Fate of us All
by Selenahaileen
Summary: Haileen refused to admit that she was falling for her best friend. Selena tried to cope with the 23rd century. Starting with the destruction of Valeritas, a forgotten colony of Earth, and the awakening of Selena after 300 years of cryogenic sleep. What will happen when they both join Starfleet Academy? Input valued. JimxOC, ChekovxOC
1. End of Home

**A/n: Hi there, this is my first Star Trek fanfic but I'm currently editing majorly. For now please comment, suggestions are more than welcome! Also if there's any spelling mistake and such please tell me. Hereby I disclaim every character except Selena and Haileen and my other OC's. Enjoy this first chapter!**  
 _The class M planet Valeritas, as it's named by the native population, is an Earth-like planet in a small solar system with five other planets and two suns. Valeritas is about 2.1 times smaller than earth and its gravity is about 0.94 times that of Earth._  
 _A single day lasts 22.62 hours and a year lasts 379 days._  
 _The planet is made up of five continents, which make up 67% of the planet's landmass._  
 _Two moons orbit the planet and Valeritas itself orbits a white sun in a fairly circular orbit._  
 _The underwater world of this planet is truly a feast for the eyes. Thousands of different soft and hard coral species cover the ocean floors, most of which have a form of bioluminescence, which makes the night even more magical than the day. These bioluminescent corals offer homes to plenty of creatures, which they need to be cleaned, while at the same time trying to attract the very same creatures with their lights so they can eat them. A truly remarkable balance._  
 _The plant-like organisms on this planet mostly consist of large fungi and trees, with a few dozen flower species, but almost no grass or bush species. The trees are fairly similar to what you'd find on Earth, but the fungi are completely different. Most of them are huge and colourful. Despite their obvious differences, the fungi tend to mimic the overall shape of trees. Some even have branch-like tentacle growths, but with tiny hairs instead of leaves._  
 _Nutrients are always needed but not always around, so organisms have to find ways to get them. Common ways are using different roots to find them in the deep or shallow grounds or even stealing them from others, but on this planet, many species have found a different balance. Unlike most plants on Earth who tend to only produce oxygen and nutrients (in the form of sugar) for itself, the organisms on this planet also produce other forms of nutrients for itself, usually for different purposes. These purposes often lead to many byproducts which they don't need and are thus discarded. These discarded products are exactly what other species need to live and in turn produce byproducts they discard for the other organisms, leading to a delicate balance._  
 _Surviving is always high on the list of priorities of any organism, which includes reproducing. The organisms on this planet have taken this to a gorgeous next level. Almost all of them are bioluminescent. These lights will attract animals, who will spread the seeds and pollen one way or another. However, perhaps the most intriguing part is that each colour combination is appealing to different groups of animals, creating an awesome, nighttime eating balance._  
 _The minerals and metals present in the planet's soil are easily obtained and thus of great value, and the composition of the atmosphere makes human settlement possible._  
 _(McQuinton, Colin F., 12.5.2005, Status Report on Mining Project V, NASA)_

* **Haileen's p.o.v.***  
"One more question and you're ou-hout!" Amber sang when she added another point to her score.  
"No way, because if I can answer the next one within three seconds you'll have to do an extra round," I pointed out, handing her the pile of green cards. Amber had insisted on playing an old card came she'd found in the attic.  
When she read the question, her eyes lit up in triumph. "Ha! You'll never get this one right!" she yelled.  
I shifted on the blue carpet. "All right, we'll see about that. Now, what's the question?"  
"What is not a diagno-nostic property of minerals?" she asked with a smug smile, tripping over the word diagnostic.  
"That is.." I was thinking rapidly, I knew this one.  
"Three.. Two.."  
It was on the tip of my tongue. It was... Ugh, I had learned this for a test once…  
"..One…"  
"Colour!" I nearly shouted.  
Amber huffed in defeat. "Ohw come on! Why do you always know everything?" she mumbled disappointedly.  
Smiling, I wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Don't worry, soon you'll be just as smart as me. Probably even smarter!" I reassured her.  
Her light auburn wavy hair dangled as she shook her head. "No, I won't. You're 7 years older! And you're as smart as dad."  
"And you have mom's beauty," I opposed and began to tickle her.  
She giggled, which sounded enormously adorable. Then she laughed out loud, the sound bouncing off the red walls. The only furniture in the room consisted of two big wardrobes, a small coffee table and some chairs – they hardly ever used the attic room. A large, round window showed the edge of the forest, with big tree-like fungi in front. The fungi could be any colour, some had combinations of two or three. Visible through the windows there was a bright yellow one, one blue-red combination, and two green-orange combinations. They lighted up the room with their colours.  
"But it still isn't fair!" Amber shouted, tears of laughter had formed in her amber eyes.  
"No? And why not?"  
We were both laying on the ground now, and Amber had somehow managed to grab one of my hands. That kid has a strong grip.  
"All right, stop, stop! Oof, I surrender!" I yelled when she literally jumped on top of me. She let her head rest on my shoulder and I stroked her hair as we both caught our breath.  
Amber giggled once again. "I finally won from you!"  
"Yeah, you did. Seems like you're getting stronger by the day."  
We both went silent and listened to the wind blowing outside, and the bristling of the leaves. On the red ceiling of the room, projectors showed a part of our system.  
It was a lot like that of Earth, of which I'd seen a picture once in a book. This one though held two suns, a red one in the centre and a white one on the far edge, marking the border. The last one was called Leida: 'second'. The red sun provided light to our planet for 6 hours a day – in contrary to Earths, the axis of our planet was almost completely vertical, so we didn't have distinct able seasons. The white sun, Leida, only appeared in the sky once every year. For a whole month, the days were twice as warm as usual. You could call it a one-month summer.  
"Can you still name all the planets?" I asked Amber.  
"Yes! My teacher said she was amazed by my knowledge!" she answered enthusiastically. With one finger she pointed at the different planets up in the 3D projected space. "The sun, Gijoscio, Valeritas, Nonnomen, Lithona, Leida!"  
"Huh. Your teacher must've been really, really proud of you," I commented with a tired smile. "At least I am. Are you still certain you won't outsmart me?" I asked teasingly.  
Before she could answer the 3D planets began to flicker. Several times they went on and off, and then it just went dead.  
"Is it broken?" Amber asked worriedly. I gently pushed her off me and got up.  
"Maybe they went haywire," I thought out loud.  
Suddenly the lights turned off too. The whole room went pitch black, which was odd.  
Almost all of the organisms on Valeritas were bioluminescent. These lights would always be there, they were the main sign if the plant, fungus or tree was dead or alive. And now even outside there was no light at all.  
A warm hand grabbed mine. "Haily? I'm scared."  
Amber's voice was trembling.  
The lights inside never turned off in the first place except during the day. Power failures were non-existent due to several regenerators which kept the circuits online 24/7. Well, 22/7. Days contained two hours less. We were very much dependant on the lights. With sunlight for only 6 of the 22 hours every day, we had to work in the dark a lot. I wrapped my arms around Amber and held her tight. I was scared as well but didn't say a word about that to her.  
"Don't worry, I'm sure the lights will go on any second."  
Blindly we went downstairs and made our way to the kitchen, feeling around and keeping one hand to the wall. Light peered through the door opening, and when we entered the kitchen we saw mom lighting a dozen or so candles.  
"Mum!" Amber called with a small voice. She let go of me and ran towards Seraphina, who scooped her up and sat down on one of the chairs surrounding the table. Seraphina, my mother, was slightly taller than me, and she had the same light auburn wavy hair as Amber. What I'd said before about Amber having mother's beauty wasn't a lie. They looked alike, and the hardly visible wrinkles on Seraphina's face didn't reduce her beauty. I didn't look like them at all, with my blonde wavy hair and brown eyes.  
Now there was fear in mother's brown eyes.  
"Don't worry sweetheart, we'll be fine," she reassured Amber, who buried her face in her shoulder.  
Her eyes met mine, and I knew we were thinking the same: what is going on?  
I didn't sit down, I needed to know what was happening outside.  
"I'm going out, perhaps someone else knows what we have to do," I told her and didn't give her the chance to object by running to the front door.  
"Haileen, you're not-"  
When I stepped outside I was met by darkness and cold wind. I could barely see the other side of the street, which was only meters away. Valeritas was sporadically inhabited, the last time they'd counted there were 16,000 inhabitants. Our city contained 5,674 inhabitants, thereby being the capital. I knew the closest lamppost was only a few meters away, so I went checking it for no other reason than just to be sure.  
But as I came closer, every step combined with a terrible lot of noise compared to the spooky silence, the contours of a person slowly appeared, a grey stain in a sea of black.  
"H-hello? Sir?" Every tendon in my body was tense, ready to get me out of here and fight, if necessary.  
He didn't even turn to look. "Tryin' to fix this damn thing, so go waste someone else's time," the man spat at me. I recognized the voice though, it was old Beryl. He was a bit nuts.  
"But there are hundreds, if not thousands of lampposts in this city, so how do you know this is the right one?" I pointed out to him, annoyed by his rudeness. This time he did turn. He looked mostly like a homeless person, with old clothes and a messy beard. Or at least that's what I remember him looking like because the darkness made it hard to see anything.  
"Now listen up you-"  
I'd never got to know what he wanted to say, however.  
A loud roar suddenly echoed through the street. Next, the ground started shaking violently, making me fall to the ground. Screaming raised from the houses as they started to crack. The shaking didn't stop, it grew worse. My breathing sped up, fear overwhelmed me.  
"Haileen!" someone called my name and pulled me onto my feet. I unfroze when I realized it was Ander. My dad.  
"Are you all right?"  
I sighed and held onto his arm. "Y-yes, I'm fine. But mum and Amber are still inside, in the kitchen!"  
Dad almost dragged me along to the front door, where he left me as he literally kicked the door open.  
My eyes had slowly adjusted to the darkness, so everything looked grey instead of black. I jumped when with a loud cracking sound one of the buildings on the end of the street collapsed.  
The loud rumbling and screaming filled my ears.  
People were running out of their houses, of which some already had gone down to the ground.  
Cracks appeared on the ground.  
Dad came out of the house with Amber in his arms and mom in front of him. Just in time, because only seconds later the walls went down under the weight of the roof.  
Our home.  
It tumbled on top of the neighbours' house. I hadn't seen them get out before it got smashed.  
"No…" Nonono, this wasn't happening. It was all a nightmare, this couldn't be real.  
"What in the world is happening?" mom shouted to dad. Her voice was squeaky.  
"Valeritas is collapsing!" he shouted back, dragging us along.  
"What?!"  
"Just run!" he shouted back, holding tightly onto a quivering Amber.  
Mom and I ran after him, which was a hard thing to do because the ground kept shaking and huge pieces of debris kept falling out of the dark around us. I tried to ban out the screams of agony and fear and tried to think more clearly. We were running towards dad's work. It was an enormous building with half a cylinder-like hangar on either side. A stream of people came out of it while we were running towards it. Why were we... A sudden realization hit me. Our project. We were going to the place where we were working on our top-secret project. And with 'we', I mean dad and me.  
We pushed our way through the crowd and ran the last part to the main building. The doors which normally were closed and under guarding were opened now. Inside we had to dodge ceiling pieces, but it all went past me in a haze. Through another set of doors, another hall, more doors. I knew exactly what came next, so many times I'd been here. But now everything was the same: darkness, destruction, pain. I tried not to think about what I was looking at. More than once I tripped, but the pain stayed out, perhaps I was just too shocked to feel it. I wasn't scared. I was petrified. The irony smell of blood made me want to throw up, and the screams that we could hear even here, far below the surface, I would always remember them.  
Eventually, after a lot of stairs and doors, we reached a big space. It had barely changed since I came here a week ago. The earthquake hadn't had much impact on it since the walls had been made of a thick layer of concrete and iron plates. But it was still a mess, we always forgot to clean up. In the middle of the room stood a machine, half of it covered was covered with a tarpaulin. It was an alien shuttle. It was a fascinating machine because it was supposed to fly. And not just fly, it was supposed to go into space. Dad pushed me, mom and Amber inside the small machine through the open door. Mom took Amber on her lap when she sat down on one of the three seats. She hadn't spoken a single word since we'd left our street. Her face was pale, her eyes wide open. Like me, she was in shock. Amber, on the other hand, was crying, and I felt terribly sorry that she had to go through all of this at the mere age of 8.  
"Haileen, do you think this thing is ready to show what it can do?" dad asked sternly.  
"You mean flying?!" I exclaimed. "But I.. We still haven't.."  
Dad grabbed my shoulders and asked again louder this time: "Haileen, I need a copilot. Can you fly this thing?"  
I was silent for a moment and heard the iron plates on the walls screeching. They wouldn't hold much longer.  
"If you think the systems will hold, I think it can-"  
"Then help me get it out of here NOW!" he pushed me in the copilot's seat and sat down in the one next to it. Unbelievable this was actually happening. I had hoped to fly this thing for so long, but not now... Not this way…  
We all buckled in.  
"All right," dad said the things he was doing out loud so I could keep up. "Engines on." The lights inside turned on.  
"Thrusters firing.."  
I switched some buttons, I knew what to do because I'd studied this thing for years with dad.  
"Disconnecting with the ground.." The shuttle started hovering a meter above the ground. "Ready for take-off."  
"Where do we go?" I asked, coming out of the shock more and more.  
Dad pulled a lever and pointed at the darkness outside. Two white light beams from the shuttle lighted up the area in front.  
"You see those doors?" In the far distance, there were two grey spots. "You think we can handle that?"  
"I hope so," I whispered. If we had to die, then we'd at least died in an attempt to escape.  
The rumbling grew louder, and the iron began falling off the ceiling.  
Dad and I shared a look, and without any more words, we made the shuttle move straight forwards at an increasing speed. The speed surprised all four of us, mom yelped when we suddenly bolted to the front. The lights inside the shuttle flickered, and more and more iron plates lighted up in the shuttle beams as they fell down right in front of us. Amber softly wailed, and dad's face had gone pale. I was feeling nauseous but didn't know whether that came from flying in the shuttle or the horrible run towards it.  
"Everyone hold on!" dad shouted as the doors came in sight.  
A loud bang and an abrupt stop came as a reply. We were thrown to the front. The seat belt kept me from slamming against the panels, but the force cut off my breath. None of us had the time to recover, because now in open air we were heading straight to what was left of the houses surrounding the hangars.  
"Up! Up! We need more height!" dad yelled, and the shuttle quickly went up when he pulled the lever. The shuttle started shaking violently as we went through the atmosphere. When the bright stars appeared in front of us I stopped and turned the shuttle. We all were trying to catch our breaths, but what we saw didn't let us do so. Fear and despair came over me when I looked at our beloved planet.  
Its purple-blue glow had died, a black planet with red cracks remained. The cracks spread across the surface, red magma flowed out of them like blood. The lights of the city and other towns had died. Considering the height we were at, it wasn't hard to imagine the chaos and destruction going on below. Complete continents rose and sank into the sea of fire. Warm tears streamed down my cheeks as I watched.  
The shuttle yanked backwards, away from the dying planet. Dad had gotten us into space. Tears blurred my sight, and I turned my head to look at mom and Amber behind me. They were crying too, they had all the right to. We had all right to assume everyone we loved, everyone had died.  
Everyone. My best friends, our relatives...  
Everyone.  
The air had grown heavy, my chest felt tight. Dad kept shaking his head as he sent us further and further into space. And under the weight of my sadness, I slowly fell asleep.

Seven days later we still hadn't seen any signs if a nearby planet.  
We'd found emergency supplies in a small iron box in the back, but that had only been enough for two days, even on ration. At least I guess it had been two days, the display that showed the time had turned off days ago. Most of the water and food we'd found had been given to Amber and me. I hadn't wanted it that way, but mom and dad had insisted.  
After two days we'd run out of food.  
After twice that time out of water.  
And now we were running out of air as well.  
Only by a miracle the engines were still working, though we had no hope left that we'd find a habitable planet or a spaceship. One by one the other systems were shutting down. We were asleep most of the time, trying to save some air. And because of the lack of food and water, we hardly had enough energy to stay awake.  
I had woken up minutes ago. My vision was hazy and I couldn't think clearly. But one thought remained: if Amber, mom and dad wouldn't wake up, they'd die. If I went to sleep, I'd die.  
They had to wake up, they had to stay awake. With my last bit of willpower, I reached out with my hand to them.  
"Wake up…. Wake up….."  
I grabbed mom's arm and shook it, but I got no response. The same happened when I tried it with dad and Amber. My arm dropped, I left it dangling to the ground and stared into space.  
Deep, dark space.  
Is this the end? The small conscious part of my mind wondered. Has it all been for nothing?  
Slowly my eyes closed, thoughts long gone. My subconscious noticed there was something strange about the space outside, something blocked the stars.  
Darkness took hold of me.


	2. A New Start

**A/n: Here's Selena, so enjoy! Sorry for the bad start... By the way, I won't update very regularly because I simply cannot be online all day (unfortunately).**  
 ***Haileen's p.o.v.***  
".. should've woken up by now."  
My mind sluggishly processed the words. Someone was talking... A woman. What was she talking about?  
"We can do nothing but wait."  
I realized I was laying.. on a bed.  
"Give her some time, I'm sure she'll wake up soon," a male voice replied.  
Footsteps sounded, people were walking away. Silence remained. Curiosity took the better of me, and I opened my eyes. A bright light forced me to close them again quickly. I opened them again, slower this time so my eyes could get used to the white light. All I saw was a white.. ceiling. A white ceiling. I turned my head to one side. I saw I was in a room. The walls were white and blue, and there was a display with – were those medical measurements? Was I in a hospital or something? Why was I..?  
Slowly my memories came back, and with them the pain.  
When tears gathered in my eyes, I pushed the memories away to a dark corner of my mind and locked them up. I never wanted to see those things again. But this meant.. it meant I was alive.  
Alive. I had survived. Laying on my back made the bridge of my nose hurt, so I decided I'd try to sit up. The muscles in my arms protested, but I managed to push myself into a sitting position. My lungs didn't react well to that. I suddenly started to cough involuntarily.  
I was leaning on one arm and with the other, I clenched the soft fabric of the clothes I was wearing. The violent coughs hurt and I got the feeling I was choking... Sweat had formed on my forehead. I heard someone running in the distance.  
"Calm down now, breathe slowly."  
A woman gently lifted my head, her hands felt nice and cool no my hot skin.  
"Look at me. Look at me!"  
I tried to look, but tears made my vision blurry.  
"Now, slowly breathe in - and out. In – and out."  
I followed her orders, and to my surprise, it worked. My breathing became steadier. Reluctantly my muscles relaxed.  
"There. Much better right?" the woman said with a soothing voice.  
I wiped my tears away and looked at her. She had copper red hair, was wearing white clothes, and held something in front of me. She waved it across my face.  
"Can you tell me your name?" she asked.  
"Haileen. Where am I?"  
"You're in the medical bay in San Francisco on Earth," she replied.  
Earth. We'd made it to Earth, of all planets!  
Speaking of 'we'...  
"What happened? Where are the others? My father and mother and sister? Ander, Seraphina and Amber?" I asked hopefully.  
Then I saw the look on the nurse's face. She stopped doing whatever she had been doing and looked at me with a pitiful look.  
"Fifteen days ago scanners picked up a signal from an unidentified object: your shuttle. Almost all the life support systems had failed and it was more or less floating around. They found you more dead than alive, you were lucky to survive. The others.. it was too late for them."  
My mind froze. Too late? They.. weren't here? No, they must be. They must be!  
"I'm sorry," the nurse whispered.  
No, no, this wasn't true. It couldn't be. They weren't... They couldn't… Could they be.. gone? A sob welled up from my throat.  
No, after all we'd gone through, after facing the end of Valeritas, after all of this, they couldn't just be gone. A tear rolled down my cheek. Soon more followed. I buried my face in my knees with my arms wrapped around them. First I sobbed. Then I full-out cried.  
"No, no, no.." I wailed.  
Why did I survive, why? I remembered Amber's face, her smile, the sound of her laugh. The way her eyes lit up when she had an idea, the nights she'd come to my bedroom when she'd had a nightmare and she'd slept next to me. I remembered the sound of my mother's voice when she'd be singing in the kitchen whilst preparing a delicious meal, the way she would smile proudly when Amber or I had told her the things we'd learned that day on school. The way she'd held me when I'd got hurt or scared. I remembered the amazement in my father's eyes when we'd been working on the project, or when we were looking at star charts or maps in books. All the times that he'd helped me solve things I couldn't figure out myself, and that he'd run all the way back to our house to save us that night. All those memories flashed across my mind. Now I had lost them.  
I'd lost them forever.

They hadn't been buried on their home planet.  
They'd been buried on an alien one far away, which they'd never seen. They hadn't had the chance to. During the funeral I hadn't looked at anyone directly; I didn't know them anyway. Melanie – the nurse - had been next to me the whole time. Only when I'd laid the flowers on the graves I'd left that position. I had chosen scarlet pimpernels. They looked most like Amber's favourite flowers.  
"Farewell, little sister," I'd whispered to them. I hadn't managed to keep my tears from streaming. Melanie had brought me back to my temporary room. In the dark, long after she'd gone away, I'd stared blankly at the darkness for hours.  
The days after the funeral I'd hardly spoken a word.  
The times I had been awake Melanie had talked to me, and had asked me basic things like my age and where I was from. She was very kind and tried to lift my spirits a little. She didn't ask any further when she saw I refused to speak, but when I did answer my voice was monotone. Mel had even given me something called a PADD; it took me quite a while to find out how it worked. This thing intrigued me a lot. There was so much I didn't know yet about this strange planet and about the cold, dark space. There was a lot more to learn than back on Valeritas.  
 ***Melanie's p.o.v.***  
I rubbed my eyes as I was walking through the white and blue corridors. Today had been a long day, but fortunately, it was over now. I only wanted to visit Haileen before I'd go home. As I was walking there I thought about the girl. When I'd seen her the first time she'd been unconscious. Her face had been pale, almost white, and her blonde hair almost like gold around. She'd been unconscious for two days, she'd seemed so small and fragile. It had surprised me when I'd found her awake. My heart had broken when I saw her eyes widen in disbelief when I'd told her the terrible news. I'd wrapped my arms around the small child. Her body had been shaking, her face wet of tears, her brown eyes like deep puddles of sorrow. Her deep despair had saddened me deeply. I felt so sorry for the poor girl. She'd fallen asleep in my arms and I gently had placed her head back on the pillow. The days after that every time I'd come to visit her she'd been staring blankly at the walls. She hadn't looked up a single time when I entered the room.  
I yawned and was glad the day was over if my head would only tough a pillow I was sure I'd fall asleep right away. The door of Haileen's room slid aside and as I entered Haileen was reading something on the padd I'd given her a while ago. When I showed it to her she looked at it like it was worth a million.  
"What is this?" she had asked me, and I had frowned. Everyone working with space-related matters was familiar with these.  
"This is a padd. Personal Access Display Device. I thought you might like to have something to do."  
Now she couldn't live without it.  
"What are you reading?" I asked her. She looked up.  
"Oh, just something about Earths History. It's pretty interesting, actually." Her voice was soft as ever. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed. I sat down next to her, and her warm brown eyes turned serious.  
"Mel, you said I can leave this place tomorrow."  
"That is right." I knew what she wanted to talk about.  
"But... Mel, where do I go then? I mean- I can't live on my own yet – the government won't allow that, I'm 16 years old... And I don't know anyone. So what do I do next?" She was looking down at her hands. In the last few days, I had grown very fond of this girl, so there was no doubt in my voice when I spoke up.  
"You know, that's what I wanted to ask you; I thought, perhaps, you could come to live with me, here, in San Francisco. Only if you want to of course," I added quickly. Her head snapped up, the surprised look on her face made me smile.  
"You mean, I could live with you, and you want that?"  
I nodded, and she surprised me by throwing her arms around my waist.  
"Oh, I'd love to! Thank you so, so much!" The girl pulled back, and for the first time since I'd met her, she smiled.

* * *

 **4 years later**  
 ***Selena's p.o.v.***  
It was dark. Pitch black. I couldn't even see my hands. I was cold too, almost freezing, but I wasn't shivering because of that. It was the screaming.  
"Selena! Selena!" A shrieking female voice echoed through the darkness, terrified and broken. "No, leave her alone! Selena!" I knew that voice all too well.  
"Mum?" My voice sounded soft, scared and young. I was scared.  
"Run away Selena! Go fast – Don't touch her!" Sounds of a struggle cut off her voice. Suddenly a big hand came out of nowhere and grabbed my left arm. I screamed. "Mama! Mum, help me!" I struggled to free my arm, but the man had an iron grip.  
I shot up, the rate of my breathing was faster than average. My throat was raw from screaming. The soft fabric clenched in my hands was being held tight to my chest. When I realized it had only been a nightmare I gradually became calmer. The night event puzzled me, for nightmares seldom occurred. While my mind was rising from slowness realization hit me, that it had been a memory. It came as a shock to me that the memory which I'd locked away and secured heavily for years had broken free this easy.  
And haunted me again. The day before had been a tough one; the mental exhaustion must have been the cause for the lack of alertness.  
It was 5 AM, so I had the choice either to try to gain some more sleep or prepare for the day coming. Considering the circumstances I opted for the last one. I threw my legs to one side of my bed and got up. Because the apartment I lived in was exactly 73.25 m³, I had everything immediately at hand when needed. The practicality in some way suited me. A part of me, at least.  
I fetched a laptop from a desk and logged into the academic program to see if the students had handed in their essays on time. To my contentment, all of them had done so, and I started checking the first ones. The general subject was the fourth century BC, the century in which the Macedonian Empire had reached its largest expansion under the reign of Alexander the Great. Being an online teacher had kept me from boredom and this way I contributed to the community.  
There in the light of a bureau lamp, a part of my mind picked a happy memory: a young girl was horseback riding, laughing happily as a woman led the horse. The girl's laughter filled the air. She wasn't scared, she trusted the sorrel with her life. The woman, her mother, smiled lovingly. They were out on the heath between the trees, the knee high violet plants bristled against the mother's brown horseback riding boots. Those boots suited her chocolate brown hair and warm brown eyes very well. All around butterflies were flying in the warmth of the sunlight. What was it about this memory that I was reminded of it now? I guessed it was the carefreeness. Nothing to worry about, no judgements or stress. Just plain happiness. It had been too long since I had experienced these feelings.  
My focus returned to the essay. A mistake stood out. Alexander had defeated Darius III at Gaugamela, not at the Indus river. Later in the morning, I had completed the marking lists, and the results were satisfying. Mainly because minor mistakes had considerably decreased in comparison to the last essays.  
A small alarm clock displayed the time, it was ten to eight. In 8 hours, 26 minutes and.. 41 seconds I was expected to meet Captain Christopher Pike, at the moment serving as a recruiting officer for Starfleet, on behalf of my application. Due to my age, it was not more than logical that closer research was obliged. On the other hand, I wasn't like any regular 13-year-old. But that aside, there was still enough to do before that would have to be on my mind. The lessons in which both the third and the second century had to be discussed and explained needed to be written, and the assignments as well; I only had come as far as the fall of Corinth, and no assignments had been made yet. But first things first.  
Like every other living being I too needed glucose amongst other components to produce energy and stay healthy, so I took two slices of bread and ate them while I was making up the greater part of the assignments for the next subjects. This job of mine so to say bored me enormously, but this had been the best option for making a living without getting involved in too much trouble because of my age. Once again. And without standing out. The application to Starfleet Academy had been a risk, but it was one I was willing to take. I could wait no longer, not after having to live this solitary life for 4 years.  
The remaining time I spent reading The Two Towers, by J.R.R. Tolkien (for the sixth time), and listening to early 21st century music. No particular band or singer covered the majority of my playlist, my interest was widespread from rock to classic to country. Only hard rock, metal and synthesizers didn't make it into my playlist, but further on you'd find anything, in any language. With still 55 minutes to spare, I went outside and locked the door of the apartment behind me. With earbuds plugged in, I walked down the stairs. Despite having to walk down eight stories I never opted for the elevator. My mother and I had long ago been inside one when the electricity suddenly had failed. The doors wouldn't open, and the walls had been made from thick iron plates so there was no way to escape. It had been pitch black inside. Luckily the electricity had come back after a few seconds, but the event had scared me to death. It had been a onetime situation, but nowadays stairs still had my preference.  
I skidded down the staircase on the rhythm of the current song playing, El Mismo Sol by Alvaro Soler.  
 _Te digo claro claro_  
 _no es nada raro raro_  
 _asi se puede amor_  
 _un mundo enano enono_  
 _estamos mano a mano_  
 _solo hace falta el amor_  
 _se puede amor_  
Outside the sun had warmed the air, a pleasant airstream met me when I opened the door downstairs. Since it was midsummer the colour green was present the most, combined with the blue of the sky.  
 _Yo quiero que este sea el mundo que conteste_  
 _del este hasta oeste_  
 _y bajo el mismo sol_  
 _ahora nos vamos_  
 _sí juntos celebramos_  
 _aquí todos estamos bajo el mismo sol_  
 _y bajo el mismo sol_  
Softly I hummed with the music feeling rather tempted to sing, but the sane part of me was sharply aware of the couple walking down the street, so it remained with humming. 52 minutes and 19 songs later a huge white building came into sight.

* **3rd person p.o.v.***  
Captain Christopher Pike finished his final sentence on the remarks on the conversation he'd just had with a new recruit. Usually, he was very patient with new people, but this time he was very glad the conversion hadn't lasted more than 10 minutes. The guy must've had ADHD or something like that, his enthusiasm counted for ten. Chris looked at the next application. Selena Valdez, 13 years old. He looked again at the age, but it really said age: 13 years old. Right. As if being called there was a soft knock on the door. "Come in," he called. The door slid aside and a girl entered hesitantly. Her brown hair fell loosely over her shoulders, which made her blue eyes stand out brightly. She was human, but there was a solemn maturity about her that made her seem older despite her age. As she entered he stood and they both shook hands, hers small and slender compared to his.  
"Captain Pike," he introduced himself.  
"Selena Valdez," she replied with a small smile as a reply to the kindness that showed on his face. He motioned her to sit down as he settled himself on the chair. She followed his example and sat down nearly on the edge of the chair as if ready to run off if necessary.  
"So, I suppose you have been informed as to why you are summoned here?"  
"Unless I am mistaken there was something to be discussed concerning my application to Starfleet Academy, sir?" Her expression remained neutral like her voice, but not in an unkind way. Curious would be a better word.  
"You're quite right, miss Valdez." He took said application in front of him. "To make a start, you imply to have finished high school within one year, is that correct?"  
She nodded. "You are right, sir." There was not even a hint of pride visible on her face.  
"And you have indicated to speak more languages than the certificate indicates, will you clarify that to me?"  
The girl rested her hands on her lap. "Indeed I speak more languages, eight to be precise – I have studied Greek, Latin, Mandarin, Russian and Vulcan by myself, though I speak the latter that fluently," she explained without hesitation. Had it not been for her youthful appearance he might have forgotten he was speaking to a 13-year-old. That, of course, was what this whole conversation was the result of.  
"Quite impressive. At Starfleet, we don't usually see results this high at your age. Most students apply around the age of 19."  
She nodded in understanding. "I see."  
"You know," he placed aside the padd and placed his elbows on the desk between them, "studying at Starfleet Academy isn't an easy feat, and especially because of your age contact with other students might be hard to make because they'll see you as a prodigy, and that doesn't usually gain friendship. They are going to be hard on you." He didn't like reminding her, but she had to be made aware of what her application might result in.  
She nodded again. "I am aware of the consequences, and it is a risk which I'm willing to take. It will not be the first time for me to encounter problems. I am certain of my capabilities, I only need a chance to show them that my age isn't a disadvantage, for intelligence isn't necessarily age-bound. If only they will give me the chance, I will prove it." She sounded very serious, convinced of her case. He was silent for a moment.  
"You remind me of another applicant, a Russian kid. He isn't much older, I suggest you go talk to him once. It might be supportive to either of you."

A smile reappeared on her face.  
"I will, sir."  
"Then hereby this application is accepted."

 ***Haileen's p.o.v.***  
I woke up early, despite my attempts to sleep longer. It was about seven thirty when I got out of bed, not feeling as tired as I'd expected. I threw open the curtains and the window after that and enjoyed the fresh wind that blew through. It would warm up as the hours would pass, but right now it was still nice. The sun had risen one or two hours ago and was shining at the small backyards I was able to see from my bedroom. Our backyard, and those of the neighbours on either side. That on the left had been turned into a soccer field and young children would frequently play there, the one on the right was an explosion of flowers in all the colours of the rainbow. Rarely did I see someone outside there, only five times a year they went outside. With birthdays only, that is. Then the whole family would sit outside, and they'd retrieve a BBQ from the old shack in the back of the garden and put on music loud enough for the entire neighbourhood to be heard. Not that it was bad music, I quite liked it. Most of the time it'd be pop or country, or old-fashioned campfire songs which you sing when it's all dark outside and you're holding marshmallows on sticks above the flames. And there would be one person poking in the firewood with his or her stick with burnt pieces of marshmallow still clinging onto it, and there'd be girls swooning over some hot guy. And of course one or two pyromaniacs can't be left out; they'd try to set anything on fire. The cracking of the wood and a mixed smell of smoke and burnt marshmallow vaguely on the background.  
At my request, Mel had allowed me to make a campfire myself in this very background, so I'd collected some dead branches from down the street and had placed them in a pyramid shape like in movies and books. Mel had bought us marshmallows, and after several failed attempts I'd managed to get the fire started with a bunch of matches. I was sure the wood wasn't meant to create a sudden burst of flames, but somehow it happened and I'd made it off with red fingers and a few blisters. It hadn't kept me from staying, though.  
The rest of the evening Mel and I had sat around the warm fire, burnt some marshmallows to a black mass – they just won't stick to the stick! – and talked about Mel's work and boys. No, I wasn't crazy about boys, hello, I was 16 at that time! It had been mainly Melanie, telling me about a kind guy she'd met at work. I forgot to tell, but she'd broken up with Jared – her boyfriend when I'd arrived on earth – about a month after I'd met him (I so hate him). I'd had to suppress a sudden outburst of joy, mainly because I'd felt sorry for Mel I'd kept it in. She'd brought me the news in a steady, monotone voice, not once I'd heard her cry over the break-up. He was a bastard after all. Anyway, this new guy Max was an estate agent here in San Francisco, well-known for his kindness and humour. He'd been in the hospital for three weeks(still got no idea why he'd had to stay for that long, but I suspect it might have had something to do with the ability to talk with Mel all day). Fallen off a staircase, the poor lad. I'd met him recently, he had a dark skin, short jet black hair and surprisingly blue eyes. Mel had left the two of us alone in the living room to retrieve tea and coffee the first day I'd met him, all on purpose, mind you! The first thing he'd done (we had by the way already been introduced to each other) was asking me what Mel thought of him. It had surprised me, and I'd told him the truth, that Melanie honestly liked him. He'd let out a sigh of relief and told me he liked her very much but hadn't been sure if that feeling was mutual. I'd told him some small things about Mel, about her love for cooking and her favourite colour for instance (which is red). When Mel had returned after what had seemed like an eternity we'd talked throughout the rest of the evening. He'd told us about the time he'd accidentally switched house numbers in a message to a potential buyer of one of the houses he had to sell. He'd been waiting for three hours in the house, but nobody had shown up. It turned out that the potential buyer had gone to the house on the other side of the street, and had been kicked out by an angry old man with a walking stick, just like in a very old movie Up. Also, he'd told us his name, Max, was actually short for Maximus, but he found that too formal and all so he always introduced himself as Max.  
Altogether it had been an enjoyable evening, of which more had followed throughout the years. Now, one year and a half later, it was widely known they were a couple, and everyone including me was just waiting for the engagement.  
I turned away from the window and pulled some clothes out of the closet. Jeans and a T-shirt would do. After I'd changed I made myself breakfast (toasted bread with eggs and bacon) and decided to sit outside in the front yard. It was pleasantly warm, and I settled myself on the wooden bench next to the door. The hedge around the yard hid me from the passengers", sights, but only on the left side. I took a bite of the toast and watched the regular joggers, the not-so-regular joggers, dog-walkers and bikers that passed by every once in a while. I liked looking at people. Trying to figure out the story of their life. For example, when a woman in jumpsuit runs past, I try to think of where she's going or where she's been. Is she going home, or has she just left? Whom will she visit, what is her job, does she have a family? Does she earn a lot, what does she like to do at weekends?  
I'll give you an example. A dark-haired, about thirty-year-old man is walking down the street. In his left hand he's holding a small phone, with his left he is carrying a black briefcase – a first-rate lawyer I'd say. His untied tie is loosely hanging around his neck, the buttons of his coat are undone. He's walking at a slow pace, though not idle. Let's say it's around 4 PM on a relatively cold summers day. I'd say he just came from work, but it's never really finished within his scheduled working hours. He probably lives nearby and has a family. He's walking home. If he'd be single he'd have come by car (hovercar, yes, flying objects everywhere!) or by taxi. I'm almost sure he hasn't decided to walk home that day because he felt like it or something, because he's talking on the phone with someone from work, I can tell that by his facial expression. A man of great status would have his secretary take over his phone calls during his walk. Though, it was doubtful whether he was or not because this wasn't exactly An-Enormous-Mansion-Estate or an Overly-Modern-And-Oh-So-Envied place. Anyway, his job might more-or-less have become his life.  
This is what I liked doing. Hmpf, might as well call myself the 23rd-century female Sherlock Holmes. If you haven't watched an episode of Sherlock yet, I recommend it to you to do it once if you haven't got anything to do during class or something; you don't want to know how many Fanfictions have been made in the 21st century during and after the release of the seasons (it's a series).  
Anyhow, with the now empty plate on my lap, I remained where I was for a long while enjoying the warmth of the sun on my skin. I still had some time left, Mel had insisted on taking me to the Academy but she'd only be home in the early afternoon. And in the meantime, I tried desperately not to think about the fact that I'd be leaving in a couple of hours.


	3. Many Meetings

**A/n: Okay, so I hope you enjoy the story so far. I'll introduce a few more characters, both OC's and some of the Original gang, I hope you enjoy the first chapter of their Academy life! Please comment if you have any recommendations. I'm thinking about spending two, maybe three chapters on the three years in Academy, and then I'll continue along with the movies - go or no go?**

 ***Selena's p.o.v.***  
With a loud thump, a small bag was dropped on a bed. It was a dark blue travelling bag, not bigger than the average rucksack. Some clothes were thrown in, accompanied by some books, a laptop and other small belongings. It surely felt odd, seeing the room back in its original state similar to what it had been when Selena had first come here. She had wiped her trail and was obliged to once again pass out of knowledge. Not wanting to linger there any longer she went out and did not lock the door behind her; the owner of this building would retrieve the key himself once she had left. For the last time, she walked down the stairs, the final occasion she went through the doors that led to the street. Once outside, rucksack over one shoulder, a sudden urge to hurry took over and she started to walk down the street in a quick pace. It was true, leaving was much worse than actually having left. The realisation that you're free kicks in, and all she could do was to smile as she nearly ran all the way to the bus stop. A light feeling settled in her fluttering heart, somehow departing caused her to feel happier than she had in the past months. It felt like flying.

A street before the bus stop she however slowed to normal walking pace (breathing rate barely increased), not wanting to make anyone to think she was running from someone, or to appear similar to a small child (I'm 13, not an infant. A more proper term would be teenager, but not a child, please). There were four other persons waiting at the bus stop, and Selena joined the line, fiddling with a strand of chocolate brown hair. Soon the bus to Riverside pulled over, it was rather crowded and therefore she ended up sitting next to a Betazoid woman, who entered just after her. They both smiled kindly but shared no words for the rest of the journey as they were both content sitting in silence. Or, in Selena's case, listening to music. The people who came in at the next stops had to stand because there were no empty seats left. It was only a 20-minute drive, but the city and countryside passed in a blur.

Once in Riverside, she left the bus and walked the last kilometre to the shipyard.

It being a typical mid-summer day in Riverside, Iowa, and add to it that it was not long before noon, she did not need the leather jacket which she was wearing, but since it didn't fit in the rucksack, it was tied around her waist. The temperature had increased considerably over the four-hour ride, and surely it would get warmer in the afternoon. The laptop bounced against her shoulder blades 'till it was no more than a faint tingling feeling on her back. Dust clouded over her as a van from the opposite direction passed by, followed by the inevitable sound of camera's and mobile phones taking pictures at an unstoppable rate. Tourists. She huffed. They haven't got something better to do than making pictures of and selfies with everything and everyone, have they? And who still uses mobile phones nowadays?

Towering high above the shipyard was the newest ship-under-construction visible from afar, the outer layer shining magnificently in the midday sun. Selena caught herself staring at it the entire walk. USS ENTERPRISE it read.

There were few people entering a military shuttle, the very same one that transported recruits to Starfleet Academy, she figured.

She mingled in the group and looked slightly down so that she would go unnoticed, people tend to overlook you easily that way, like nearly every animal species you aren't interesting when you place yourself lower. She wasn't in the mood for a "But you're only thirteen years old!" talk. She sat down where there was an empty seat on the right and a man and woman on the left, but as they were indulged in their conversation she doubted they would notice her age before long - if they'd notice someone sitting next to them in the first place. Either way, she was nervous - not because of the rather rude stares she was given. It was a form of claustrophobia, though as long as she could get out at free will things were fine. A nauseous feeling settled in her gut, which made the blood flow out of her face. Subsequently, her hands were repetitively clenched to fists, nails digging into her palms, and relaxed again. The red half-moons were a bright contrast against the pale skin.

Staring hard at the ground she attempted to bring herself to more positive thoughts. A shuttle was fine, nothing would happen, there were shuttles in the air and in space non-stop, this would be no different. But if it would stop functioning en route there wouldn't be any chance of getting out, they would only be able to await their deaths... She took another deep breath. This was the 23rd century. Shuttles didn't falter in their functioning as they did in the 20th. Not as often, at least. She quickly pushed away that thought. She was going to be safe, they were all going to be just fine...

Luckily the nerves had kept her from eating anything all day.  
What was the worst thing that could happen? They could crash - but the chance of crashing was minimal, there were no storms or hard winds forecast. Run out of air - surely there was enough oxygen stored for everyone for days. They could get caught in a squall- OK, let's try something else! The people here know what they are doing, you can't show any weaknesses in front of anyone. Your age will make people critical, you have to show them what you're worth...

"Hey kid, are you sure you're on the right shuttle?" There you've got it. She managed not to roll her eyes and looked up. A blonde man on the other side of the empty seat slightly leant in her direction.  
Selena shortly studied him before replying, shrugging: "Unless this shuttle isn't a military shuttle which serves to Starfleet to bring recruits to the Academy, I am right where I ought to be." She was neither offended nor did she have any intent on appearing sardonic when addressing the man, but she did feel rather annoyed. And sick.  
"So," the blonde asked, incredulous, "you're going to study at Starfleet Academy? How old are you?"  
"I'm 13 years, 6 months and 15 days old. And taking on a study is what I intend to-" His face was truly worth a million, but her voice trailed away by witnessing a vehement discussion between two entering people.  
"I don't need a doctor, dammit, I am a doctor."  
"You need to get back to your seat."  
"I had one in the bathroom with no windows."  
"You need to get back to your seat, now."  
A female security guard and a brown-haired man who was clearly upset about a matter appeared in the pathway. "I suffer from aerophobia. It means fear of dying in something that flies," he explained. So I'm not the only one who's freaking out... A bit less drama wouldn't have hurt, though. The guard was far from amused.  
"Sir, for your own safety sit down or else I'll make you sit down," the smaller woman ordered, her expression stern.  
"Fine," the man reluctantly replied in defeat after a short silence and sat down on the empty chair between Selena and the blonde guy.  
"Thank you, sir," the woman snapped at him, clacked her heels and walked away. "This is Captain Pike," sounded through the intercom, "cleared for takeoff."  
Selena remembered his face from some days ago and was partially reassured by the fact that at least she knew in whose hands their fates were. Since when did my thoughts become apocalyptic? she wondered. Her musings were interrupted by the disgruntled stranger next to her.

"I may throw up on ya," he sort of warned the blonde guy while buckling up.  
"I think these things are pretty safe," the latter replied cautiously.  
"Don't pander to me kid, one tiny crack in the hull and our blood boils in thirteen seconds."  
Apparently, he has even merrier thoughts about this than I have.  
"Solar flare might crop up, cook us in our seats."  
Small possibility.  
"And wait "Till you're sitting pretty with a case of Andorian shingles, see if you're so relaxed when your eyeballs are bleeding."  
So supportive, these clearly exaggerated worst case scenarios. Right?  
"Space is disease and danger wrapped in darkness and silence."  
Selena couldn't help herself, she had to give a comment. The stranger's speech had worked on her nerves, and she was having a hard time staying calm and polite. She felt horrible already, and forcefully she moved her hands, that had gripped the seat so hard that her knuckles had turned white, to her lap.

 ***3rd person p.o.v.***  
"Will you, please - with all due respect - keep your disastrous cases to yourself? You'd better get used to it since Starfleet operates in space."  
Both men turned to look at the small girl, her blue eyes were focused sharply at the brown-haired man in the middle. Since when do they allow kids at Starfleet? the latter wondered grimly. And she was looking just as sick as he was probably going to be. "Yeah, well, I got nowhere else to go; the ex-wife took the whole damn planet in the divorce. All I got left is my bones." With that, he took a quick sip (probably of alcohol) from a flask he'd taken out. This gesture drew the attention of the blonde guy.  
"Jim Kirk", he introduced himself after the southerner had handed him the flask and he'd swallowed some of the liquid.  
"McCoy." The southerner replied. "Leonard McCoy." Putting his flask away he then turned to the brown-haired girl on his other side, who had watched the two curiously. "What about you, kid? What's your name?"  
"Selena Valdez," she replied with a small smile.  
With company, the flight didn't seem to last as long, but both Selena and Leonard were more than relieved to be able to get out of the shuttle after it had landed in San Francisco. Jim was just glad neither had thrown up, as their faces had had a suspicious pale green colour when the shuttle had set off hours ago. The weather in San Francisco was just as good as it was in Iowa, perhaps a bit sunnier even, and a hard, cooler wind blew through the city, making the walk to the Academy administration too short before both the sun and wind were blocked out by the white plastered walls of the building.

 ***Haileen's p.o.v.***  
Melanie drove me to campus. Surprisingly, neither of us had something to talk about, so it was a silent drive. But it was a comfortable silence, which allowed me to think over everything and made it less hard to bear the upcoming sadness of leaving. Time passed slowly and yet too fast, and I enjoyed every second of it. But all good things come to an end, and thus the building of Starfleet Academy came in sight eventually. Mel parked the car two streets away.  
"So," she started, "have you everything with you?" I nodded. I left the car and pulled a large bag from the back seat. Mel had also stepped outside and had walked around the car to my side. She looked silently at me carrying the bag, and tears formed in her eyes.  
"Oh, I'm going to miss you, Lena." She wrapped her arms around me tight. A lump in my throat formed, but I managed to keep my tears in. Mel pulled back to look at my face, and I smiled reassuringly.  
"I'll miss you too Mel." She wiped another tear from her face, and I pulled her in another hug.  
"Mel, I'll be fine. You can always call me, and I'll visit as often as possible, I promise. Don't worry."  
"I know, I know," she said with a sad smile as we both pulled back. "I'm being silly, I'm sorry. Empty nest – feeling you know." We both laughed quietly, and I squeezed her hand shortly.  
"I'll see you soon, okay?"  
She nodded. "Okay." She walked around the car and closed the door. "Have fun, Lena!" she called to me, and I waved after her as long as the car was visible – then it disappeared behind the buildings and traffic.  
I turned around, and gripping the strap of the bag tight I started walking to the Academy.

 ***3rd person's p.o.v.***  
Through glass doors, they entered the entrance hall. Behind a long desk, several officers and staff were busy working. It wasn't hard to see where they should report, four lines had formed where about three dozen recruits were waiting for their turn, whereas returning students needed to do no more than 'show their face'. Chattering and computer sounds filled the room, but the small crowd didn't appear to shrink quickly. They might be stuck for at least an hour before it'd be their turn.  
"This is gonna take a while," McCoy mumbled, and they spread over the four lines.  
Haileen looked up as other people entered but then focused again on the activities of the people behind the desk. In ten minutes she'd exactly made two steps progress. Luckily she'd dumped her bag on a bench before joining the line, but her feet slowly started to feel numb. Looking at the man all the way in front she had to suppress a groan – he and the man behind the desk were acquaintances and were asking about each other's family. Of course, take your time. Nobody's WAITING anyway. She thought frustratedly. Now she wished she'd taken music with her or something.  
"How long have you been standing here?" a voice behind her asked.  
Haileen turned around surprised, and when she saw a blonde man with startling blue eyes looking at her questioningly, she realized he was talking to hér.  
"Ten minutes, give or take. But I bet we'll be here for the rest of the day – they're quite enjoying themselves over there." She nodded to the still chatting men. His face clouded for a moment, but then he shrugged like he didn't mind and gave her this small smile.  
"I'm Jim Kirk."  
"Haileen Wellingsworth," she replied. Since it appeared that she wouldn't move in a long while she'd better kill time by getting to know some people.  
"Where are you from? You don't sound like you're from California."  
Haileen had never really taken notice of her accent, but now she realized he was right. She pronounced the R like the Spanish, every W sounded like a V, and everything that ended with -zed or -sed was a -zd. She smiled a bit.  
"Yeah, well, that's a very long story. But the last couple of years I've lived here in the city."  
Jim Kirk raised a brow and looked pointedly at the long line that hadn't moved, and the two men who were now exchanging photos. "It appears that we have more than enough time, and I'm curious," he spoke with a grin.  
She looked at him both incredulously and curiously. No-one except Melanie and the government had been interested in her story, and she'd befriended many people in school and the neighbourhood. And certainly nobody had asked about her accent. Heat crept up her cheeks, but she felt comfortable. Like they were talking about the weather instead of the story of her life. But, well, she wasn't an ordinary girl either. Jim was still looking at her expectantly, and she quickly made up her mind as to how to begin.  
"How many do you know of Earth's interstellar colonies?"

When it finally, after one hour and three quarters it was Selena's turn she quickly stepped forward and smiled politely at the woman in front of her. She had passed time by listening to music with earphones in and watching a blonde girl talking animatedly with Jim Kirk. She hadn't at first really tried to listen to what was said, but eventually, she caught a few words after all.  
"Name?" the woman asked, interrupting her musings.  
"Selena Valdez."  
"Date of birth?"  
"February 11th, 2242." She had responded a second too slow, and the woman looked at her with a strange, examining look. Selena must've looked very nervous – she tried to at least – because she went on firing questions at her.  
"Age?" This time it was Selena who was looking with a strange look.  
"I'm thirteen," she slowly said, but the woman didn't notice.  
"What was your mother's maiden name?"  
"Gabriela"  
"When is her birthday?" She is dead, Selena was thinking darkly.  
"September 25th."  
"In which town was your father born?"  
"Livingston, Great Britain."  
She still didn't look up or something, and Selena was wondering if they had picked random questions to ask.

"What is the occupation of the person who countersigned your application?" That was Selena herself, so she now really questioned the woman's sanity.  
"She's a student." No wonder that the line hardly moved on.  
"How long have you lived at your current address, and where is that?"  
"For four years, in Iowa City." Normal people don't give exact dates or addresses, she reminded herself.  
"Where did you live before that?"  
"Woods Bay, Montana" Selena was clenching her fists but managed to keep a polite expression.  
"What will your focus be?" Finally, a normal question.  
"Engineering."  
"Please fill in the courses here." The woman, still not looking up from her work, a paper to her, and she quickly filled it in. The woman took it back and gave her some other papers.  
"Here is all the information you need, on the other side of the hall there's a list with rooms, and if you have further question do not hesitate to return. Have a nice day." She gave Selena exactly one second and then called: "Next!"  
Inhaling deeply Selena moved aside and walked to a bench to examine the papers she had received. Not one cell in her body was thinking of returning to ask a question ever in her life.

Before all the formalities, introductions and meetings had ended time had approached the late afternoon. Everyone parted to go check up their rooms and Selena promised Jim Kirk and Leonard McCoy, nicknamed Bones by Jim, to come along somewhere later in the evening. Haileen had said she'd be in a certain bar in the city nearby, and Jim had promised to be there.  
With a heavy feeling, Haileen sauntered to her assigned room. It had been a long day, yes, but the prospect of having to share a room with a stranger for the coming three years... She didn't look forward to it at all. At least she knew her name, Bridget Evans. When after procrastinating the moment for as long as possible she, unfortunately, had found her room and had no choice but to enter. Gathering the courage she had left she went inside.  
A black-haired, around 24-year-old woman had arrived earlier, she was already unpacking her suitcase.  
"Hi," Haileen said because somehow she hadn't heard her enter. As if stung by a wasp she spun around, taking out one earphone in the action.  
"Oh, um, hi," she laughed with relief.  
"Sorry I startled you," Haileen apologized, "I'm Haileen Wellingsworth"  
The raven-haired woman wiped her wavy hair out of her face. "I'm Bridget Evans, nice to meet you." They both shook hands.  
"So, we're roommates," Haileen stated, but Bridget answered it as if it were a question.  
"Yes, there was a list in the hall. I'm sure you've seen it on your way here." She returned to unpacking her suitcase, and Haileen stared at her for a second, and then followed her example. Clearly, Bridget wasn't very perceptive. Haileen in the meanwhile sort of stared at Bridget's suitcase, wherein everything was neatly folded and exactly where it was supposed to be. Compared to that Haileen's was a mess.  
"What is your focus by the way?" Bridget asked without turning around. "Mine is communication."  
"Me too," Haileen replied, throwing the rest of her clothes right in the wardrobe and closing the door quickly before anything would fall out. She'd clean it up later.

McCoy in the meanwhile had received the wonderful news concerning his roommate. Guess once.  
"Cheer up Bones, it'll be fun," Jim said before claiming one of the beds.  
Bones? He still didn't like the nickname, but according to Jim, he'd brought this onto himself. Good lord, what have I got myself into? Grudgingly McCoy accepted his fate and dumped the very last of his belongings onto a small table next to the other bed.  
"You think?" he mumbled. The room itself was all right, but the designers sure as hell weren't creative with colours.


	4. Games and Trickery

**A/n: Eva 505, thank you for the review! Here are two more academy-life one-shots, and this will lead up to the movies. Enjoy!**

"And this one here... Yes, and now... no first that part..."  
Selena was mumbling to herself, sitting with her back against a tree and working intently on what seemed like a metal cube. Her eyes never left her work, which was almost ready. Only one or two replacements and one last instalment. Her fingers worked quickly, filled with excitement.  
"Now only this part..." she murmured. Not once it had appeared to her what a shame it was that she couldn't enjoy the beautiful day like the others. She was on the edge of breaking down, she couldn't even remember the last time she'd slept. Haileen and Nyota had forced her several times to eat and drink something, but furthermore, she'd been working on this non-stop. Only the excitement and anticipation kept her barely awake.  
A green flash accompanied by a shock of electricity woke her up completely. She cursed softly. In a reflex, she had pulled back her hands, and the motion had launched the cube a couple of yards across the field. It had landed on the gravel of a pathway, right in front of a student walking past. Selena had already scrambled to her feet when he picked it up and studied it closely. He had short blonde curls, blue eyes and, to Selena's surprise, appeared to be only slightly older than she was.  
"Is this yours?" he asked with a Russian accent and offered the block of metal to Selena, who took it gladly.  
"Yes - um, thanks," she replied, feeling slightly awkward.  
"You're in engineering, am I right?" he asked all of the sudden.  
Selena looked at him in surprise. "I am, yes, but - how did you guess?"  
"A friend of mine is also in engineering, he's right now also working on his final project of this year so I assumed this is yours then."  
"That sounds logical. And it's true of course, this is my version - if it's going to work at least." Because I just got electrified.  
"What is it supposed to do?" He seemed genuinely interested.  
"Um- well," She fiddled with the small cube which reflected the sunlight. "It's supposed to - um - it's like - I'll show you." This was the first time she was speechless in front of a stranger. She turned the cube upside-down and flipped a small switch. Please let it work, please let it work... A surge of relief shot through her when it started hovering in mid-air, and green lights covered its surface. Immediately 9 planets and one sun appeared in the air - the Sol system in 3D, each planet in its original colour.  
"This machine creates three-dimensional images of planets, solar systems... Anything within the borders of what is known by the Federation. Also, it contains a great deal of information concerning distance, gravity, orbital speed, present life forms, average temperature, and so on." She was silent for a second. "It seems so useless now I said that out loud." Her excitement had gone in a free fall. Did it really contribute to something?  
The other student shook his head. "No, it doesn't seem useless at all. Where did you get all ze information from?"  
Selena shrugged. "From my own knowledge, mostly. The rest I've looked up, and the most recent information it gets from satellites, measure equipment and some of the data transferring through space... It updates every minute." Dissatisfaction resounded through her voice. "It's enormously hard to get all the receptors in such a small thing but-"  
"Hold on," he interrupted her, "it intercepts data from ze air of this planet?" He looked at her in surprise, and Selena returned a non-understanding look.  
"No, not only of this planet, of any planet with present radiowaves, heatwaves, lightwaves etc.. Why?"  
He didn't answer the question but asked: "May I try something?" Selena was puzzled by his words but agreed. "Sure. It's commanded by voice."  
She motioned for the student to go ahead. "Show Sigma IV." he commanded hesitantly.  
The image shifted, it zoomed out until Earth was one of the billions of stars and zoomed in on a planet far away. It now showed a green moon in its orbit around a fairly large red gas planet. The student's eyes widened in surprise and amazement, and maybe a bit disbelief. Selena, on the contrary, looked back and forth between the image and the student. "Is something wrong?"  
"No, no, it's very accurate. But ze discovery of this moon was only made known about a month ago! How did you know?" He was looking at her with a strange look.  
She shook her head. "As I said, it updates... What is your focus by the way?" she changed the topic quickly. "Communications?"  
He shook his head. "Navigation, actually. Zat's why your prototype interests me, we work around such things all ze time."  
Selena was silent for a moment. "So, is the moon inhabited?"  
"By ze Medons, yes."  
"What are they like? I mean, is it a pre- or post-warp civilisation?"  
"It is a pre-warp civilisation, but zeir technology is advanced and mainly to improve ze medical sector. Despite zeir achievements in technology they prefer hunting above domestication and growing crops. Zat is basically all I've heard." He made an apologetic gesture, but Selena smiled reassuringly  
"It doesn't matter, you know more than I do anyway." She hesitated a moment. "Are you... Do you happen to come from St. Petersburg?"  
The student smiled. "No, I'm from Moscow actually." Selena now smiled as well. "That is also possible, of course."  
She offered her hand. "Selena Valdez." He shook her hand, and it felt like an electric current had replaced the blood in her hand. "Pavel Chekov." "Nice to meet you, Pavel." The moment they pulled their hands back the electricity disappeared.  
They both remained quiet for a short while, and Selena wanted to ask the student some other questions but the lack of sleep all of the sudden caught up with her, and all she could think of was sleeping.  
Chekov looked at the girl a little worried, she was swaying on her feet and very pale. "Are you all right?"  
The girl nodded quickly. "I'm fine, just a little tired, that's all... Don't worry about it." She snatched the cube out of the air and turned it off.  
"It was nice talking to you, Pavel Chekov. Maybe we'll see each other again sometime soon?" Hope clearly sounded in her voice.  
"I'm almost sure we will. Well," They both did hesitantly one step back. "see you." He smiled, and Selena's heart fluttered in her chest. "Bye!" she said, and they both parted ways.

"You done with your homework yet?" Haileen entered the room and jumped onto the couch next to Jim, who was surrounded by papers and books and typing something in a padd.  
"Does it look like it?" he asked without looking up. Haileen bent forward and tilted her head to read one of the chapters.  
"Basic warp design." she read. "How's that going? You're doing that essay on dilithium crystals?"  
Absently Jim nodded. "Hold on for a second, I'm almost... Done!" He turned off the padd triumphantly and tossed everything onto the table, to which Haileen snorted.  
"Whenever I do that things slide off the table, bounce off three walls and kills a cat in the process."  
"So that's why every padd you own has been broken at least two times." He grinned and she huffed, moving an empty plate to the table.  
"How long have you been working by the way? It's Saturday afternoon!"  
He just shrugged. "The due date is 16:30 today so I didn't really have a choice. Personally, I think it's quite an achievement, writing that whole essay in one day."  
Haileen nodded, and could not help but notice his handsome features. And then his eyes, bright blue and very smug at this moment.  
"Please don't tell Bridget," she sighed, "I won't hear the end of it. Where's Bones by the way?"  
"He went to the city early. I guess he'll be gone until late afternoon. And what about you? I thought you'd be off with your friends all day?"  
Now it was her time to shrug. "We cancelled it. Uhura and Gaila are still working on a project in the lab and Bridget refuses to leave her room, her hay fever is really bad and she has swollen eyes and all.." She pulled her knees up to her chest.  
"Don't they have something against the symptoms in sickbay?"  
"Nah, she's too stubborn for that. Don't ask," she quickly added when she saw the look on Jim's face. "she's a med student, but is one hundred per cent convinced medicines are meant for patients only. I don't see the logic behind that either, but she won't listen to me. Oh, and Selena went outside, I suspect you'll find her near the Bridge. I believe I've had everyone now... I myself was planning on going on a trip downtown. You don't have any plans for tonight by any chance, do you?" she slowly asked with a smile on her face.  
Jim grinned and made a gesture to the mess on the table. "Not anymore. I already considered doing such a thing, maybe pay a visit to some friends... There's a newly opened place near the dock, a 30% discount on everything until midnight." There was a mischievous glimpse in his eyes, and Haileen jumped up.  
"Well then, what are we waiting for?"

Finished at last with her translation, Nyota walked back to her room. Gaila would come soon after, she just had to tweak on a few details. The door slid aside as she entered.. and she was startled by an unexpected guest on the floor.  
She exhaled the breath she had been holding subconsciously when she saw who the visitor was. Haileen apparently had rolled off the couch in her sleep, her fuzzy blonde hair and the fact that she was wearing a top, skirt and high heels gave Nyota the impression that she wasn't at a full 100%. The giggles that escaped from Haileen's lips when Nyota did an attempt to move her back onto the couch confirmed her suspicions.  
"Where did the kittens go?" she mumbled. "I have their blue socks... No purple sweaters... Ladder.." Nyota had a hard time holding back a laugh while she was removing Haileens high heels and jewellery and retrieved a blanket from the closet. When she came back Haileen had begun humming a song which sounded suspiciously much like the Final Countdown.  
With a smile, she covered her with the warm blanket, and carefully untangled the blonde strands whilst removing the elastics. Haileen had fallen back asleep. Nyota decided to sleep a few more hours (it was 3:14 AM), Haileen would wake up no time soon and if she did she would be in a bad mood.  
Nyota returned to the sleeping room and went to bed herself, forcing her eyes shut. With a small smile on her face, she wondered if Haileen would be able to retell how she got here in the first place. And if she did, Nyota would be the first to hear.

A groan escaped from Haileen's lips when her head started throbbing. With one hand she covered her eyes to shield them from the bright light. She sat up, but it didn't do her head any good.  
"Good afternoon to you too." a voice called from the other side of the room. Haileen covered her face with a pillow and groaned again.  
"Oh, I'm almost sure you have a horrible headache right now. I'll get you an aspirin and a glass of water." Someone placed a cold glass in her hand. Haileen threw away the pillow and quickly swallowed the bitter water. When the glass was empty it was refilled within seconds. Satisfied Haileen leaned back and slowly let her eyes adjust to the light.  
At first, the world was one big blur, but slowly it formed a couch, small table, then the whole apartment. The aspirin began to work and the unbearable throbbing in the centre of her head gradually ceased. The form next to the couch turned into a woman.  
"Nyota?" Her voice was a little hoarse, so she cleared her throat and tried again. "Why are you here? And what am I doing on a couch..?"  
The bronze-skinned woman smiled. "Of all people I ought to know? After having spent my day in the lab I found you here early in the morning. On the floor, mind you. Can remember anything that happened last night?"  
Haileen frowned and went back through her memories. "Jim and I have gone downtown - you know, visiting some friends, go by a bar or two.." They had gone to this new Andorian place, The Dancing Fish (wonder where he got that name from). One could tell it was newly opened, both the interior as the drinks had been splendid. They had enjoyed the evening greatly.. After that things became hazy. There was this.. it might've been a taxi. Or a police car? She had absolutely no clue how she got here and not to her own room, that part was completely wiped out. She had apparently been sleeping here until... "Wait - what time was it again?"  
Nyota had sat down on a chair opposite to the couch. "2:06 PM, Sunday afternoon." said person replied. "You might want to tell Bridget some time soon, or else she'll think you stayed away on purpose because of her hay fever or have never returned in the first place."  
Haileen nodded absent-mindedly. She spotted her necklace, earrings and bracelets on the table, next to some elastics and her high heels. "May I eat something first?" Her stomach rumbled in support.  
"I already predicted you might be hungry," Nyota stated and handed her a plate filled with bread, eggs and bacon and a glass of orange juice. "This will speed up the hangover and break down the alcohol faster." Haileen began eating gladly.  
The brunch was small for a brunch, but the food tasted delicious - it tasted real. "Every time again I wonder why it seems like your replicator produces better food than ours. It has more texture, the taste is great-", she inhaled deeply, "it even smells better!"  
Nyota shrugged. "Do you remember those engineering guys?" Haileen nodded, the wondered if she would ever be able to forget them. Paul and Jake - personal dogs for everyone who was looking good or interesting enough. They were enormously irksome - once they'd set their target, they wouldn't leave for at least half a month. "Well, they tried to impress Gaila by upgrading the replicator - and we just make use of that."  
"Hmm... Well, it definitely paid off. This is so good." Haileen spoke with a full mouth.

Meanwhile, Selena was playing a card game. Yes, they still existed. Poker sets, blackjack and more of that sort; they all were still a source of enjoyment. Despite circular cards being more common, old-fashioned rectangular card games were still possible to acquire in any regular shop. Now, she was playing the one-person game Solitaire. Basically, all you had to do was to try to build cards of descending suit sequence from King to Ace within the tableau columns. The sequence was: K - Q - J - 10 - 9 - 8 - 7 - 6 - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 – A. She had always been terrible at this since she'd never really paid attention as to how to play it, but it kept her mind busy and gave her an excuse not to interrogate with the crowd. Long ago she had learned that in order not to draw anyone's attention it was best to be, or at least seem, occupied.  
She was sitting at a table in the back of a recreation room. There were several other occupants; some were watching two people play 3Dimensional chess, there was a group playing poker, three were playing pinochle, and then there were a couple of others playing more modern games, chatting or reading a book. It was Friday afternoon – the start of the weekend, and that meant everyone procrastinated their homework to Sunday.  
The next card was – darn it, a red seven. She needed a black one. With a sigh, she put it away and turned another one – a red four. She reached out to take it, but halfway in the air, the movement faltered as someone came standing behind her chair.  
"Just so you know, you could've used that seven." a voice behind her spoke. Selena slightly smiled and shook her head, taking the card anyway.  
"I'm sorry, but I think you are mistaken – I'm not playing Double Jack.."  
Pavel Chekov sat down on a chair beside her. "No, what I meant was if you use this," He undid her last move and took the red seven. "and move these here," He moved two rows and used the card that came free. "you can do this." and he placed the seven on a black eight. Selena stared at the cards in obliviation and slight embarrassment. Then she leant back and sighed.  
"I'm afraid I'll never become an expert in this game. I have done it like a million times and not won even once." With a smile, Pavel gathered the cards and began to shuffle.  
"Eet is really just a matter of strategy and luck. Back in Russia, we played a lot of card games, especially in winter when the roads are hardly passable."  
"You don't live in the city, then?"  
"No, about 33 km to the east, on the edge of a small village."  
"You live there with your family?"  
"Yes, we are.. well, you could say we're a rather close-knit family. Even when Alexander and Sergei moved elsewhere they still remained nearby. They come around as often as possible, so I grew up with my family always near, except when my father was offshore," he said and placed the carefully shuffled cards back on the table.  
"Your father is in Starfleet, then?" Selena asked with surprise.  
"Until four years ago he was a science lieutenant on board the USS Vader."  
"Why did he stop?" Selena wondered.  
Pavel leant back in his chair. "Oh, he wanted to live a steadier life, he said. He still works for Starfleet as their contact in Russia."  
"I see. It must've felt strange, being this far away from them all of the sudden?" she noticed sympathetically.  
He shrugged. "I suppose that counts for more people. What about you?" he changed the topic, "Do you live here in the city?"  
Selena shook her head. "It is.. complicated. But tell me, do you have any plans for the coming summer holiday?" He noticed the sudden change but left it for what it was.

"Ok, see you at the canteen!" Haileen said to Nyota before they dispersed after a long school day. The small phone she carried with her indicated that she'd been called earlier that day, so she returned to her room and called back.  
The screen turned on and two familiar faces appeared, sitting next to each other.  
"Hey, sweetheart!" "Hey there!" Mel and Max said at the same time.  
"Hey, guys, what's up?" Haileen asked with a smile, sitting down on a chair.  
"How's school going?"  
"All is well. We just finished a practical assignment so tonight I've got nothing to do for a change. How are you doing?"  
"Well," Mel looked at Max with a wide grin, "we have something to announce." Max looked lovingly back at her, and then, their hands intertwined, they raised them.  
"Oh, Mel!" On her pale hand shimmered a thin silver ring – an engagement ring. "You're engaged!"  
She nodded, tears of joy shimmering in her eyes.  
"That's great! Guys, that's awesome news! You need to tell me everything! When is the wedding?"  
Max laughed. "We planned nothing yet, but we're thinking about the 16th of May, the day we first met." That was in two months.  
"That is so cute! Promise to let me help with the preparations!" She shot Mel a fake stern look, and Mel laughed.  
"Why, of course, you can help! But school is still the priority, lady."  
"There you've got a deal! I can't wait!"  
Behind Haileen slid a door, and when she turned around she saw Jim motioning for her to continue the conversation.  
"Who is that?" Mel asked curiously. Haileen turned back to the screen with a smile.  
"Oh, Jim just entered."  
"Oh, you once told me about him! Isn't he that cute-" "Come on, Mel! Please don't start about that now!" Haileen whispered urgently, hoping Jim wasn't overhearing the conversation.  
"Sorry dear, I forgot that you told me not to-"  
"Ok, talk to you later Mel! Bye" She quickly closed the screen, cutting off the couple's laughs.  
"Who were that?" Jim was leaning against the wall near the door opening. Haileen narrowed her eyes and studied his face for any indication that he had overheard her, but he appeared to be innocent.  
"That was Mel and Max. He finally proposed to her." At the thought, she smiled again.  
"Congrats then. They are the ones you officially live with, don't you?"  
Haileen nodded and stood up, readjusting the skirt of her red school uniform.  
"Let's go to the canteen, I'm starving."  
She left the room first, and when she walked past him he suddenly spoke: "So I'm cute?"  
Haileen's pace faltered, and her cheeks turned a deep shade of red. "I.. I.. I don't know what you're talking about." He grinned widely, and she refused to look at him. "The room isn't exactly sound-proof. I clearly heard her say something about-" "You must've heard that wrong." Haileen interrupted him, and quickly walked on, followed by a grinning Jim.

"Warp theory.. 79.3%?! What the- 'Student shows great knowledge of the subject as well as genuine interest. The final project was, however, unprovable and based on controversial matters, therefore degrading the final result.' You've got to be kidding me!"  
Frustrated Selena nearly threw her results on the grass. It was afternoon, and Selena and Leonard were sitting on the grass on campus. "Be glad kid, you've accomplished getting such high grades with your age and all, and you're complaining about one?" "But they're seriously suggesting that I'm lying! 'Based on controversial matters', sure. She didn't even bother to check the facts." She let herself fall back on the grass. "What's all the fuss about?" Jim came walking by and joined them on the grass. "Engineering results are in. What are you up to?" Selena asked. "I don't know what you're talking about," he replied with an innocent face. He did look excited about something, Leonard reckoned. Selena huffed. "No, I don't suppose you do." Jim noticed two female cadets walking past. "Hello, ladies." Giggling erupted from the two, and then he returned his focus to Selena and Leonard. "I'm taking the test again." "You've got to be kidding me," Leonard remarked, expressing the disbelief both he and Selena felt. "Yeah, tomorrow morning and I want you two there." This was stupidity, the test was created to be a no-win scenario. That was its whole purpose. "You know, I've got better things to do than to watch you embarrass yourself for the third time. I'm a doctor, Jim, I'm busy." "Bones, it doesn't bother you that no - one's ever passed the test?" he opposed. "Jim, it's the Kobayashi Maru. No one passes the test, and no one goes back for seconds, let alone thirds." "It was programmed to be unbeatable, no matter what you do. And that won't have changed tomorrow." Selena added. Jim's mood, however, didn't drop, despite the opposition, and with a grin, he jumped up. "I got to study." he excused himself. "Study my ass," Leonard grumbled as he and Selena watched him walk away. Jim's definition of studying differed much from the actual meaning.

That evening Haileen slowly walked back to her room, here and there greeting some friends. In her mind, she went over everything that had happened that day. They had received the results for Xenolinguistics, and as expected Nyota was best of the class with Haileen just behind her, who had the advantage of having grown up on Valeritas. Writing equipment had been rare, and therefore the art of remembering had been an obligatory subject at school. It now resulted in a nearly photographic memory. But despite all that, she couldn't top Nyota, who seemed to have a knack for languages. And Haileen had messed up on the speaking part, but she still was satisfied with her final results.  
"Haileen!" a voice called her from behind. She barely had time to stop walking and look around before someone almost bumped into her.  
"Jim?!" she exclaimed in surprise. He was slightly panting, he'd probably run quite a distance.  
"I need you to do me a favour."  
"I thought you were 'studying'"  
"I wasn't – I mean, I got kicked out. Anyway, will you do something for me?"  
Haileen raised an eyebrow, her lips slightly curled up in a mocking smile. "What do you need?"  
He quickly looked around if there was anyone within hearing distance, which wasn't the case. This only raised Haileens suspicions. "Look, can you convince Selena to hack into the Kobayashi Maru programmings?"  
"Oh, so now instead of trying to win an undefeatable program you try to alter the rules? The instructors aren't stupid you know, they'll notice and you're going to be in some serious trouble. I'm not-"  
"I promise you they won't, and if they do I'll take full responsibility. But you have to help me. She won't listen to me. I'll embarrass myself in front of everyone." he pouted. Haileen sighed. If his eyes hadn't made her heart flutter like a butterfly in June...  
"Look," she lowered her voice, "it isn't as easy as you make it sound." But he looked so hopeful... "Fine. Yes, I could convince her," she stated.  
"So you'll do it?"  
She threw her hands in the air. "I can't believe you're actually asking this!"  
"Please Haileen, I need you to do it. Or else I'll have to persuade Gaila for example" Gaila was the red-haired Orion girl from the science department. "and I'm sure you'd call that taking advantage of her love for me."  
"What the- you could also not do it, you know. You could take the test seriously and accept that it's unbeatable."  
"Come on Haileen. Besides, Selena owes me from the time that she broke my nose."  
"You shouldn't have crept up on her."  
"I hadn't! She just gets scared easily."  
"You think?"  
"Please, I have to hurry or else Bones will lock me out."  
"He does that?" she asked, grinning widely.  
"That doesn't matter, will you do it or not?"  
It was silent for a moment, and a group of four students walked past, casting a few glances at the two.  
"Oh, fine." she eventually conceded, "But if something goes wrong you'll have to turn up for it."  
Jim grinned. "I knew I could count on you!" He shortly hugged her, lifting her a few inches from the ground. She rolled her eyes, smiling a little. "You are incorrigible, you know that?" He let her go and made a motion of leaving.  
"Do you think she will be ready before tomorrow?"  
She playfully pushed him away. "Don't worry, I'll make sure of that. Now off you go!"  
He cheerfully waved before he walked off and Haileen turned around.  
She changed her course, knowing she might need some time to convince Selena indeed. This is crazy, she thought when she knocked on Selena's door. Why on earth did I agree? True, I have a better chance of convincing her, but still...  
"Come in." she heard Selena's voice call. The door slid aside and when she went inside she noticed Selena sitting cross-legged on the couch. Her room was awfully tidy. She was reading some kind of book on her laptop, and Haileen jumped onto the same couch.  
"It surprises me that you haven't joined the annual crowds to the city," she said, not looking up from the screen. Wuthering Heights was the title.  
"No, I didn't, I-"  
"Let me guess: Jim persuaded you to convince me to hack into the Kobayashi Maru system." she interrupted me.  
"How do you-"  
"Of course he would rather address you than me for he knows I won't fall for his trickery whereas you would do anything for him, and thereby he deems you able of convincing me but I, however, am not going to commit fraud for his pride's sake. No offence," she added.  
For a moment Haileen was stunned by this deduction.  
"But he's our friend: we can't let him embarrass himself in front of everyone. It'll haunt him for the rest of his life."  
By the expression on Selena's face she could tell she was far from convinced, so she continued: "And he helped you more than once, and now is the perfect time to return the favour."  
With a quick movement, Selena closed the laptop. Though it was very old (more than two hundred years) it still worked perfectly according to Selena. She'd told Haileen that she'd updated and upgraded it in the past few years, and as far as Haileen knew she was able to do nearly anything with it; from creating programmes to hacking into systems and wander through them like a ghost: unseen and practically untraceable.  
Selena glared at her dangerously. "Return the favour? Please, do not teach me about the properties of owing. As far as I am concerned I 'returned the favour' many times, and the majority wasn't exactly legal."  
Haileen leant back and pulled up her knees to her chest. "You changed codes before, so what's the problem?"  
Selena rolled her eyes. "As I told you before, hacking is against the law."  
"Do I have to give you a list of arguments?" she opposed.  
Selena sighed deeply and rubbed her eyes; Haileen knew she'd given up her serious, uncaring mask. If only you keep trying...  
"It is not that easy. I would have to install a subroutine into the programming code and create an activation sequence in order to alter the conditions of the test at command."  
"But you can do it, right?"  
"Naturally." Selena sighed wearily. Haileen jumped off the couch triumphantly.  
"Great! Now if you'd get it ready by tomorrow that's be awesome." She walked back to the door, leaving no time for her to object. "I better leave you to your business, I'm sure you still got lots to do so I'll inform Jim and we'll see you tomorrow bye!" Quickly she stepped out of the room. Selena didn't come after her. After taking a deep breath Haileen walked away at a steady pace, hoping that Selena would indeed keep the promise she hadn't even made.  
Again, this was madness. Absolute madness.

Guitar music met her. When the door slid aside Haileen noticed Bridget sitting on a chair playing her western guitar.  
"Hey," Haileen spoke with a raised voice. Bridget immediately stopped playing. "Oh, hi.." She wiped strands of raven hair out of her face.  
"I thought you'd be with the others, partying and all," Haileen stated. Jane shook her head.  
"Nah... I'm not your average party type, you know that." Her smile was somewhat melancholic.  
"Why not? Joey's probably there too." she teased, referring to the red-haired cadet from engineering. Bridget secretly had a crush on him, and since Haileen knew many people she'd heard he liked her too. They were like two teenage kids, both too shy to admit it. It was a miracle that they even talked to each other. Bridget looked down at her guitar and turned red.  
"I just don't like such parties, ok."  
"Fair enough. You're sure everything is all right?" Haileen asked unsurely.  
"Everything's swell. Why?" She sounded a little too cheerful, but she decided to drop the matter. It was clear that Bridget didn't want to share whatever was occupying her mind.  
"Nothing."  
Bridget continued playing a peaceful, beautiful song.


	5. Kobayashi Maru

**A/n: So, the famous Kobayashi MAru exam, yay! From here I'll follow Star Trek: 2009 I guess, please review and tell me what you think! Am I the only one who thinks there's not enough dialogue? I don't exactly have a knack for oneshots and such, it appears.. Still working on it at 11 pm, but who cares about school! Anyhow, enjoy!**

"We're receiving a distress signal from the USS Kobayashi Maru. The ship has lost power and is stranded. Starfleet Command has ordered us to rescue them." Nyota noticed her voice sounded reproachful. She couldn't help it though, this was the third time that that idle, conceited farm boy wanted to prove he was smarter than the instructors, he apparently couldn't accept his defeat. They were in a room which had been designed like the bridge of a starship, about twenty cadets together acted as the crew.  
"Starfleet Command has ordered us to rescue them.. Captain.", Jim replied smugly. He was sitting in the captains seat in the centre of the simulation room. In his left hand he was holding an apple, and he didn't seem worried or anything.  
"Two Klingon vessels have entered the Neutral Zone and are locking weapons on us.", Leonard stated.  
"That's okay.", Jim replied to everyone's bewilderment. Nearly everyone turned to look at him.  
"That's okay?", Leonard repeated suprised.  
"Yeah, don't worry about it."  
The instructors behind the glass panels were puzzled by his behaviour, too.  
"Did he say 'don't worry about it'?", one of them asked. The panels were sound-proof, so the instructors could hear the cadets but not vice-versa.  
"Is he not taking the simulation seriously?", a second person wondered.  
Meanwhile in the simulation room Leonard went on. "Three more Klingon warbirds decloaking and targeting our ship. I don't suppose this is a problem either?", his voice was filled with sarcasm.  
"They're firing, Captain.", another cadet announced.  
"Alert medical bay to prepare to receive all crew members from the damaged ship.", Jim ordered Nyota. She turned to face him with crossed arms.  
"And how do you expect us to recue them when we're surrounded by Klingons, _Captain_?", she asked scathingly.  
"Alert medical.", he simply repeated with a not so friendly smile.  
"Our ship is being hit, shields at sixty percent.", Leonard interrupted.  
"I understand."

* * *

Leonard turned around in his chair. "Well shouldn't we, I don't know, fire back?"

* * *

"No.", Jim told him, and took a bite from his apple.  
"Of course not.", Leonard muttered, growing more and more frustrated.  
Invisibly Jim nodded at Selena, who was sitting on one of the 22 occupied chairs. The girl nodded back, irritation clearly visible in her eyes. With a quick movement she started up one of her programms and inserted the activation sequence. Immediately all lights and screens flickered, as if there was a power cut. No-one except Jim and Selena knew what was happening. Neither did the instructors, who looked around in confusion.  
"What's going on?", one of the instructors asked. Three seconds later the lights flickered back to life.  
"Hmm. Arm photons, prepare to fire on the Klingon warbirds.", Jim demanded, snapping the attendants out of the muddled daze they were in.  
"Yes sir.", the cadet who acted as arms commander responded.  
"Jim, their shields are still up.", Leonard remarked.  
"Are they?", Jim asked with a hint of a smile. Leonard turned back to his screen and frowned.  
"No. They're not."  
Jim went back to serious, with confidence now he was sure his plan had worked. "Fire on all enemy ships. One photon each should do it, so don't waste ammunition."  
"Target locked and acquired on all warbirds.", sounded through the room.  
"Firing." On the big screen where in a starship the front window would be located, the visible warbird were easily dispatched by the photons, each one visible as a green light streak. Jim was 'shooting' them with his hand as a gun. He definitely wasn't taking this seriously.  
"All ships destroyed, Captain."  
"Begin rescue of the stranded crew." Jims words ended the simulation. He stood up from the captains chair, patted on Leonards shoulder and faced the instructors.  
"So, we've managed to eliminate all enemy ships, no one onboard was injured, and the successful rescue of the Kobayashi Maru crew is underway." Satisfied he took another bite of his apple, while visible through the darkened window panels the instructors were confused.  
"How the hell did that kid beat your test?", one of them asked a Vulcan, who was standing in the back, observing.  
"I do not know."

* * *

When they were out of sight Selena hit Jim on the arm.  
"Ow! What was that for?"  
"'That's okay'? 'Don't worry about it'? Don't you know in how much trouble you got us?!" Selena made sure she didn't raise her voice too much, so it was no more than an angry whisper. "Why did you have to be obvious? Now you'll certainly be called into court!"  
"Stop hitting me already! They'd accuse me anyway, don't be so angry." He rubbed his arm, her puches hurt than expected.  
"I'm just worried, all right. If the worst comes to the worst we'll get expelled before the day ends, whilst in the best case they'll keep us grounded for the next one to three years."  
"Don't worry about it,", he reassured her, "they won't find out you have anything to do with it."  
Selena sighed. "I don't care about that. I just can't stand that you might be in serious trouble which _I've_ started. It's my problem as well as it is yours, and I cannot leave you to turn up for it alone." There was a short silence, in which they walked down the corridor.  
"So you do care about me.", Jim suddenly said teasingly.  
Selena rolled her eyes, but smiled. "I said I am concerned about the concequences of your actions, so don't become full of conceit now. And you know Leonard's going to kill you, right?"  
"Nah, though it wouldn't be the first time he wants to."  
"Well, he's probably already sorted out that I have something to do with it, and I don't want to be there. So long!" She quickly made off, leaving him alone to tell McCoy.

* * *

Later that day everyone had been summoned to a lecture hall with a theatre-like side and all the way down a desk in the form of a half moon. Haileen felt nerves creeping up, she had honestly believed he wouldn't get in trouble for this; apparently she had been wrong. What else did they know? Jim, her, Selena, and whoever else had participated, did they know of them? Admiral Barnett, now acting as a judge, began the hearing.

"This session has been called to resolve a troubling matter. James T. Kirk, step forward." _Are they taking us down one by one?  
_ Jim stood up from his place after exchanging a fleeting look with Leonard (who was rather cross with either of them) and Haileen, and walked down to the two pedestals down in the centre of the room. He looked rather surprised, which striked Haileen as peculiar. Surely he had suspected what the cause was for this summoning?  
"Cadet Kirk, evidence has been submitted to this council, suggesting that you violated the ethical code of conduct pursuant to Regulation One-Seven point Three of the Starfleet Code. Is there anything you care to say before we begin, sir?"  
Jim cleared his throat. "Yes, I believe I have the right to face my accuser directly."  
Admiral Barnett nodded to the audience, and a Vulcan rose from the audience who had been present at the simulation earlier, and straightened his uniform.  
"Step forward please.", Barnett asked him. "This is commander Spock. He's one of our most distinguished graduates. He's programmed the Kobayashi Maru exam for the last four years. Commander?"  
Commander Spock stood behind the other pedestal. "Cadet Kirk, you somehow managed to install and activate a subroutine to the programming code, thereby changing the conditions of the test."  
"Your point being?", Jim asked.  
"In academic vernicular, you cheated.", Barnett explained to him. The whole room was silent, all eyes sharply focused on them, awaiting Jim's response to this accusement.  
"Let me ask you something, I think we all know the answer to.", Jim spoke, "The test itself is a cheat, isn't it? You programmed it to be unwinnable."  
"Your argument precludes the possibility of a no-win scenario.", Commander Spock stated.  
"I don't believe in no-win scenarios." Jim sounded confident.  
"Then, not only did you violate the rules, you also failed to understand the principle lesson.", he responded calmly.  
"Please, enlighten me." He sounded slightly amused, which Haileen did not understand the reason for. Was he not worried about the concequences of his stunt with the exam?  
"You of all people should know, Cadet Kirk. A Captain cannot cheat death." If possible the audience grew even more silent.  
"I, of all people?", Jim asked, looking down at the podium.  
Commander Spock would've looked smug, almost as if he enjoyed saying the next words – were he not a Vulcan. "Your father, Lieutenant George Kirk, assumed command of his vessel before being killed in the action, did he not?" _That's a mean blow.  
_ "I don't think you like the fact that I beat your test?", Jim goaded in response, finally looking up.  
"Furthermore, you have failed to define the purpose of this test.", Commander Spock continued, ignoring the jibe.  
"Enlighten me again."  
"The purpose is to experience fear. Fear in the face of certain death. To accept that fear, and maintain control of oneself and one's crew. This is a quality expected in every Starfleet Captain." _How can one experience fear in a simulation?_ Haileen wondered.  
Before anyone could reply an aide hastily walked in. "Excuse me, sir." He handed something letter-like to Admiral Barnett. This unexpected interruption confused everyone present.  
Eventually Barnett spoke up: "We've received a distress call from Vulcan. With our primary fleet engaged in the Laurentian System, I hereby order all cadets to report to Hangar One immediately. Dismissed."  
Everyone stood from their chairs, and as they made for the main doors confused, excited and scared conversations were started. Haileen and Leonard quickly came down the stairs to Jim.  
"Who was that pointy-eared bastard?", Jim asked, his voice a mix of relief and exasperation.  
"I don't know,", Leonard stated, "but I like him."  
"Are we gonna talk about how that message just saved your ass?", Haileen asked with crossed arms.  
"Nope.", Jim carelessly replied, causing Haileen to sigh, and the three of them followed the crowd to Hangar One.

* * *

"Nakamura, USS Farragut. Wilson, USS Neutral. Parker, USS Odyssey. Wellingsworth, USS Enterprise. Roberts, USS Hood. Go to your stations, and good luck.", the Commander announced. Haileen was surprised: she knew she'd done well in class, but to be assigned to the Enterprise.. Wow. Parting from the formation she walked over to Jim and Bones whilst dodging people who were heading for the shuttlecrafts.  
"..McGrath, USS Farragut. Kabul, USS Hood. Welcome to Starfleet, godspeed." She stood beside Bones as Jim walked after the Commander.  
"Commander! Sir, you didn't call my name. Kirk, James T.?" The Commander turned to face Jim and checked something on a monitor.  
"Kirk, you're in academic suspension.", he explained stricktly. "That means you're grounded until the Academy board rules." He then walked away quickly. Haileen started to feel a tad guilty now she saw how hard the news hit Jim. He hadn't considered such a thing to happen.  
"Jim, the board'll rule in your favour. Most likely.", Bones tried to reassure him. Jim just stared in shock or disbelief at the place the Commander had been standing. "Look Jim, I got to go."  
This snapped Jim back from his thoughts. "Yeah, get going." He actually managed to conjure a smile. "Be safe." Bones hesitantly turned around, leaving the two behind.  
"I'm really sorry about what happened Jim.", Haileen eventually spoke, determined to get over it as fast as possible. "Don't- don't get in too much trouble, will you?"  
He smiled much too happily. "Sure. Tell me everything when you're back."  
Haileen nodded once, promising herself to set things straight when she'd return, which was hopefully soon. "Very well. See ya." On her way to the shuttle she looked back only once.

* * *

At the assigning Commander's words Selena's heart leaped, she had been assigned to the Enterprise. The newest flagship on the fleet, which still seen under construction three long years ago. She began to make for the nearby shuttle, when Bridget, Haileen's roommate, nearly tackeled her.  
"Selena! Hey, Selena! Guess what? I just got assigned and I'm on the Newton! How cool's that!" She was speaking rapidly, her voice squeaky of excitement. "I mean, Haileen's on the Enterprise, and that's said to be the best ship and all since this is the first flight but Haileen was on top of her class, so it doen't surprise me much. But the Newton is an antique, but a classic so I'm so excited that I'm assigned there! Where are you going by the way?"  
"I am assigned to the Enterprise as well. But please, do remind this is a rescue mission in response to a distress call from Vulcan.", Selena replied, maintaining a calm appearance. Bridget didn't exactly listen, though. She kept looking around, as if she were trying to spot someone in the crowds.  
"Whom are you looking for?", Selena therefore enquired.  
"I'm looking for Nyota. You know, I've introduced the two of you to each other a while ago." Bridget seemed to forget again and again that Selena saw Nyota nearly as often as Haileen, and the latter she talked with at least once a day. "She has been assigned to the Farragut, and immediately went to Commander Spock to ask about his motives. She had a pretty dour expression on her face, so I assume she did that. Might as well have accepted it. Anyway, have you by any chance seen her?"  
But the absent-minded sound of her voice and the way her eyes studied the people around them instead of paying attention to the conversation confirmed Selena's suspicions that nothing what she'd say would be heard. She still answered: "I haven't seen her, no. I suppose you'll find her at-"  
"Oh, there she is. I gotta go, see ya later!"  
And she was gone.  
"See you.", Selena mumbled with a small smile. Bridgit was a terrific student, but not too quick-witted. Selena decided it would be best to contine her way to the designated shuttle though the formations of men and women who were to be assigned yet. While passing a room dedicated for the medical evaluation and treatment of Hangar personnel however she halted at the sight two familiar persons. Leonard injected something in Jim's neck, and she witnessed the act with a frown. After the hearing she had lost sight of either of them. Her curiosity caused her to approach the two.  
"..going to start to lose vision in your left eye."  
"Yeah, I already have."  
As she came closer she was able to hear them more clearly.  
"Oh, and you're going to get a really bad headache and a flop sweat."  
"May I ask what's going on?", she enquired after she'd walked around the corner, sending them a quizzical look. Dragging Jim along Leonard whirled around, relaxing a bit when he recognized her.  
"It's you. I'm doing him a favour. Couldn't just leave him looking all pathetic."  
It became clear to her what he was attempting. In a way it was brilliant.  
"You call this a favour?", Jim opposed, who had started to look sicklish.  
"Yeah, you owe me one.", Leonard replied. Jim was leaning heavily on him.  
"Do you need any help?", Selena therefore asked, walking after them.  
"I can handle, thanks." He took Jim along to shuttlecraft Gilliam, and Selena followed closely. The male assigner in front of the shuttle, whose duty was to check if the right people were boarding, stopped them and examined Jim with a suspicious glare.  
"Kirk, James T. He's not cleared for duty aboard the Enterprise."  
Leonard sent him a cold look. "Medical Code states the treatment and transport of a patient to be determined at the discretion of his attending physician, which is me. So I shall take mister Kirk aboard."  
The assigner opened his mouth to protest, but Leonard gave him no chance to. "Or would you like to explain to Captain Pike why the Enterprise warped into a crisis without one of its senior medical Officers?"  
The man didn't have a response, and reluctantly conceded: "As you were."  
"As _you_ were.", Leonard grumbled, and dragged Jim up the few stairs. Once inside Selena went to sit down next to the window one row in front of them.

Before long the shuttlecrew announced departure and they took flight from San Francisco straight up. A slight shiver went through the craft as it left the atmosphere; its occupants did the same only seconds later when Earth Spacedock came in sight. It contrasted with the vastness of space. Thousands of stars were visible, once beyond reach. To some space might seem cold and dark, but to Selena it represented freedom. Unlimited, undiscovered.  
"Oh Jim, you got to look at this.", she heard from behind. "Jim, look!" Behind several other starships - amongst them Newton- and Mayflower-type ships, as Selena could recall upon seeing them – the USS Enterprise NCC-1701 revealed itself. It was truly an impressive sight, as could also be heard from the shuttle occupants. Again Selena was reminded it was a privilege to be part of the crew, especially for someone like her.

Soon they arrived in the Shuttlebay and after this had been confirmed by the crew everyone started to fill out. In the bustling Selena lost sight of Leonard and Jim, which was not surprising regarding they were headed towards sickbay, while she had been assigned to a bridge-position. Therefore, after changing clothes she decided to head there, and joined someone in the turbolift. He was wearing a yellow shirt (hers was red, since she was from engineering), had blonde curls and..  
"Pavel!", she exclaimed in surprise. He returned the look (he had to look slightly down at her, which for no obvious reason had slightly annoyed her ever since she'd met him), and a smile appeared on his face.  
"Selena! You're also on the Enterprise! Although I must say I'm not surprised – surely you also have to go to ze bridge?"  
She nodded, and the doors slid open, and they stepped into the now familiar room. About half of the crew was present, and the captain had not yet arrived.  
"Well, that's a coincidence.", she stated. "Navigation Officer, huh? Sounds like we'll be working together for the next hours."  
"Let me guess; you're an Engineering Officer?", he asked with a grin. Together they walked to the front of the room, to Pavel's working station. With a smile Selena looked down at her outfit; a red pullover, black trousers and black army boots.  
"Obviously."  
A tall man with greyish hair and coated in a yellow uniform stepped out of the turbolift: Captain Pike on the bridge.  
"I think I'd better get to work.", Pavel stated, and Selena nodded.  
"Yes, you're right. Good luck!" Selena went on her way to slightly more to the back, but halfway the room she was encountered by Captain Pike, who momentarily paused the conversation he was in.  
"Miss Valdez, I didn't expect to see you here." He said it in a kind way, but in his eyes she could see that he actually had expected her here.  
"Neither did I, Captain.", she replied. Sparkles of amusement were visible in his bright blue eyes.  
"Apparently you underestimated your skills. So you're an Engineering officer now."  
"Yes, sir. It's an honour."  
He sent her a friendly nod and returned to his former conversation with one of the other officers. After Selena had reached her post and had sat down she logged in and went through the standard set of routines.


	6. Nero

**A/n: Hey everyone! First, sorry that I haven't updated any sooner. It's been way too long *cringes*. But still, a shoutout to Lord Evan Osiris III, Madiba127, Ziggy55, fluffycat98, klycmep, sgadancer17, ChibiSpyStuff, sweetchill and sirifish7 for following/favouriting this story! All of you really have made it even better for me to continue writing this! So, here's the new chapter. Oh, and Nyota already has a bridge post, just to be clear.**

Haileen had absolutely no regrets. Okay, she regretted not being there during the Kobayashi Maru, from what she'd heard their faces were worth a million. The next time she'd bump into Selena she would beg her to hack into the security camera system or something. If she'd ever forgive her, that is. Haileen's train of thoughts led her to Jim. She had felt horrible watching him during the hearing, she should have known better. They were lucky that the hearing had been interrupted.  
As she walked through the long halls of the starship Enterprise, she shook her head. It was no use stressing over that right now, she had better things to do. Hopefully, they'd return safely soon, and then they would figure things out. They'd find a way to let that academic suspension turn out a good way.  
Get your head together, Haileen! He's not a child, he can manage. Stop worrying over him as if he needs your help.  
The air was filled with the chatter of anticipation and excitement, for many this was their first real mission in space, Haileen not excluded. Despite the short walking distance, it took her forever to get anywhere close to her working station, she literally had to push her way through the crowd. Once she had approached her station, people had begun to sort to the different levels and stations, so the crowd gradually grew smaller. Suddenly a familiar face caught Haileen's eye.  
"Keira! You're here as well!" Which wasn't surprising, there was quite a number of people present in communications. The redhead had been one of Haileen's classmates in Xenolinguistics.  
The kind pair of green eyes turned away from the screen and sent a surprised look back.  
"Oh, hi Haileen! Wait a sec, I'm just finishing this-" She entered some codes (Haileen in the meanwhile did as well, on the screen next to Keira's) before turning to face her.  
"I'm glad you're here, you know. If these positions will be fixed at least we can get on each other's nerves every once in a while," she joked.  
Haileen grinned and felt the former tension vaporize. The thought alone of going on this rescue mission had made her quite nervous, but now most of her friends were around, her stress decreased.  
Suddenly a voice announced the departure through the intercom.  
"All decks, this is Captain Pike, prepare for immediate departure."  
"Have you by the way seen Bridget lately?" Keira asked whilst returning to work. The red uniform she was wearing matched her hair, though blue would've looked better on her. Green'd probably be the best, but uniforms weren't for the choosing. Haileen supposed she herself looked ok, with her blonde hair and brown eyes and all. Well, who cares. It's about the work, not the dress.  
"Hmm. I guess she's been assigned to another ship," Haileen said with a shrug. "I haven't seen her around since the hearing."  
"Yeah, about that: I'm still wondering how that man changed the simulation." She suddenly turned to face Haileen. "He's one of your friends, isn't he? Has he told you anything about his plans?"  
By the tone in her voice, Haileen could tell this wasn't meant as an accuse, it was out of mere curiosity.  
"No, he didn't," Haileen replied a little too quickly.  
Luckily she was saved by the bell, or in this case a shipwide message.

"Engineering reports ready for launch," Selena announced.  
"Thank you." Captain pike replied as he walked to the Captain's chair. The whole bridge went silent as he spoke up. "Ladies and gentlemen, the maiden voyage of our newest flagship deserves more pomp and circumstance than we can afford today. A christening will just have to be our reward for a safe return. Carry on." he then ordered, and all stations went back to work. Pike took the Captain's chair as the bustling started again in preparation for take-off, and he spoke through the communicator: "All decks, this is Captain Pike, prepare for immediate departure."  
Nothing but standard reports from Engineering, all was going well.  
"Helm, thrusters," Pike ordered an Asian-looking man, the Helm, who functioned as a pilot more or less.  
"Moorings retracted, Captain. Dock control reports ready," he reported. "Thrusters fired. Separating from Spacedock."  
Selena received confirmation from Engineering. The ship came into movement as the Enterprise along with the rest of the ships detached from Earth Spacedock and moved into position simultaneously.  
"The fleet's cleared Spacedock, Captain. All ships ready for warp."  
Since there weren't any problems reported Selena had nothing to report, therefore she watched the fleet on screen whilst keeping an eye on her screen. The sight of the whole fleet aligned in preparation for take-off was incredible; Selena could not blame the higher Officers as well as the following ranks to have a certain pride in Starfleet.  
"Set course for Vulcan," Pike responded.  
"Aye aye, Captain." The Helm turned around in his chair to face Captain Pike. "Course laid in." he declared.  
"Maximum warp. Punch it."  
There was no doubt possible that Captain Pike enjoyed this moment, to again have a vessel under his command. And the Enterprise, of course, wasn't any ship. The Helm turned back to his panel and 'punched it' by pushing down a lever. Outside the engines of the other vessels flared up in sync just before they went into warp.  
The former slight smiles were replaced by confused frowns as the Enterprise remained behind; nothing happened, even though they should be at warp speed by now. Engineering had nothing to declare, so everyone on the bridge turned to look – turned to stare, actually – at the Helmsman. Pike was the one who spoke first.  
"Lieutenant, where's Helmsman McKenna?" he asked with all the patience of the world.  
"He has lungworm, sir. He couldn't report to his post." He was checking all sorts of things before he momentarily turned around. "I'm Hikaru Sulu."  
"And you are a pilot, right?"  
Had the circumstances been different this might have been funny.  
"Uh, very much so, sir. I'm, uh, not quite sure what's wrong." He was possibly checking all that his panel gave access to, and that was quite a lot.  
"Is the parking brake still on?" Pike asked a little too kindly, which wasn't very kind after all. Selena secretly had to do with the Helm, for being put under this kind of pressure.  
"Uh, no." Sulu laughed nervously. "I'll figure it out, I'm just, er.."  
For the sake of time and to make an end to his suffering of embarrassment Selena chose to help him out: "Have you disengaged the external inertial dampener?" she spoke up.  
With a face that showed that he'd rather become invisible on the spot (it was a beginner's mistake after all), Sulu pressed a few buttons.  
"Ready for warp, sir," he reluctantly declared.  
"Let's punch it," Pike repeated, and this time they did indeed enter warp.  
"Engines at maximum warp, Captain," Sulu announced. Captain Pike then turned to Pavel, whom of all people present Pike probably was acquainted with the least. And since Pavel was the navigator it was no more than logical that Pike should know his name in the first place. Which he didn't.  
"Russian whiz kid, what's your name? Chenko, Chirpoff?"  
He hasn't quite looked all the names though, did he?  
Pavel turned around in his chair to face the Captain. "Ensign Chekov, Pavel Andreievich, sir."  
Pike smiled a little. "Fine, Chekov, Pavel Andreievich, begin shipwide mission broadcast."  
"Yes sir, happy to." Pavel replied, returning to his panel and inserting his command code: "Ensign authorization code nine-five-wictor-wictor-two." His Russian accent caused the V to sound like a W.  
"Authorization Not Recognized." the computer voice responded.  
"Enter authorization code nine-five..vswictor..vwictor-two." Pavel tried again, struggling with the words.  
"Access granted."  
He sighed (Selena was able to hold back a giggle) and began the ship-wide broadcast.  
"May I have your attention, please. At twenty-two hundred hours, telemetry detected an anomaly in ze Neutral Zone, what appeared to be a.. lightning storm in space. Soon after, Starfleet received a distress signal from ze Wulcan High Command that zeir planet was experiencing seismic actiwity. Our mission is to assess ze condition of Wulcan and to assist in the ewacuations if necessary. We should be arriving at Wulcan within three minutes, thank you for your time."  
Selena in the meanwhile was doing a check-up on the dilithium matrix when Captain Pike quietly asked her:  
"So this external inertial dampener is the parking brake?"  
Selena turned away from her work surprised. "If you'd rather put it in those words, they do indeed have a fair share of similarities, sir," she replied.  
He nodded. "Guess I should remember that one," he mumbled to no one specifically.

"Haileen! Haileen!"  
A strangely twisted voice called Haileen's name, and both her and Keira turned around to see two people running up to them, one after the other.  
"Jim! What are you doing here?" she exclaimed in utter surprise as said person halted about two metres in front of her, panting. Surely they hadn't allowed him to-  
"The transmission from the Klingon prison planet, what exactly was..."  
Only then she spotted the reason why he'd been allowed to get on board.  
"Oh my, what's wrong with your hands?!" They were abnormally swollen, Haileen figured they were at least twice as big as usual. He seemed to have some difficulty with speaking, too. Bones came up from behind Jim (he'd probably chased him around half of the ship) and started scanning him as the latter tried to ask her something.  
"It-it-it... look, who is responsible for the Klingon attack? Was the ship…" He then mumbled something inaudible in a muffled voice.  
"Was the ship what?" she asked, straining to hear what he tried to say. Jim turned around to Bones and mumbled something.  
"You got a numb tongue?" Bones asked, and Jim tried to repeat it affirmatively.  
"I can fix that!" Bones replied and searched for something in a medkit he'd brought.  
Now Haileen also noticed the sweat on his face, what in the world...  
"Was the ship what?" she repeated confusedly.  
"..o..ju..uh", was all that they understood.  
"What?"  
"Romulan!" he mumbled again, but clearer.  
"Romulan?"  
"Yeah.."  
"Yes?" I confirmed, utterly confused.  
"Yes!"  
Unexpectedly he was then hypoed in the neck by Bones. "Ah! Dammit!"  
It gave Haileen the impression that this wasn't the first. Before, the three of them knew (yes, Keira had watched the whole scene unfold), Jim had run off, Bones following right behind, and so Haileen did what seemed most logical in the spur of the moment: she went after them.  
"Captain!" Jim ran to the bridge, ignoring whatever Bones or Haileen said to him.  
"Jim no!" Bones warned him, but it was already too late.  
"Captain, we have to stop the ship!"  
Captain Pike rose from his seat with a facial expression that was somewhere in between annoyance, surprise and anger. "Kirk, how the hell did you get on board the Enterprise!"  
Bones tried to save the situation, as far as it could be saved: "Captain, this man is under the influence-"  
"Bones!" Jim opposed, but he was not-so-kindly ignored.  
"-of a severe reaction of a Melvaran flea vaccine-"  
"Bones.."  
"-completely delusional. I take full responsibility," he stated louder, throwing an angry look back at Jim, who spoke up despite the glares he was given.  
"Vulcan is not experiencing a natural disaster, it's being attacked by Romulans," he explained.  
"Romulans?" Pike repeated, not seeming to believe him. Which, regarding the situation, wasn't a surprise at all. Even Jim wouldn't believe himself if he had been in Pike's place.  
"Cadet Kirk, I think you've had enough attention for one day. McCoy," Pike turned to said person, "take him back to medical, we'll have words later."  
"Aye Captain." Bones replied.  
It was a miracle if he wasn't going to be expelled now.  
Bones did an attempt to drag Jim with him, but he just shook him off.  
"Look, sir, that same anomaly.." he tried again.  
"Mister Kirk," Pike warned him, and Commander Spock, whom until then had been observing, mingled in the conversation.  
"Mister Kirk is not cleared to be aboard this vessel."  
He and Jim started to talk at the same time, he to Pike and Jim to him.  
"Look, I get it, you're a great orator. I'd love to do it again with you too-"  
"I can remove the cadet-"  
"Try it! This Cadet is trying to save the bridge!"  
"By recommending a full stop in mid-warp during a rescue mission?" Commander Spock asked (nearly scathingly), turning to Jim now.  
Yup, definitely expelled.  
"It's not a rescue mission, listen, it's an attack," Jim tried to convince them  
"Based on what facts?" Commander Spock demanded, the sound of his voice silenced the entire bridge. Jim sent him an annoyed look before continuing.  
"That same anomaly, a lightning storm in space that we saw today, also occurred on the day of my birth. Before a Romulan ship attacked the USS Kelvin." He momentarily turned to Pike: "You know that sir, I read your dissertation.  
That ship which had formidable and advanced weaponry was never seen or heard from again. The Kelvin attack took place on the edge of Klingon Space and at twenty-two hundred hours last night, there was an attack. Forty-seven Klingon warbirds destroyed by a Romulan, sir. It was reported that the Romulans were in one ship, one massive ship."  
Wow. This actually sounds logical. Was he really the only one on this entire ship to realise this, Haileen wondered. It did at least sound like a solved puzzle...  
"And you know of this Klingon attack how?" Pike demanded.  
Nonono, don't turn the attention to-  
Jim shot a glace at Haileen, followed by all the eyes on the bridge. Joy.  
She took a short, deep breath. "Sir, I intercepted and translated the message myself. His report is correct."  
Captain Pike threw her a calculating look.  
"We're warping into a trap, sir," Jim tried to convince him once again. "The Romulans are waiting for us, I promise you that."  
A short silence fell in the room. Haileen now noticed Nyota and Selena amongst the attendees. So they both were assigned to the bridge of the Enterprise! She was surprised at the coincidence, but not for long as Commander Spock turned to speak to Captain Pike.  
"The Cadet's logic is sound, and Lieutenant Wellingsworth's skills are trustworthy. We would be wise to accept their conclusion," he stated.  
Was that just a minor compliment? Yes, yes it was.  
"Scan Vulcan space, check for any transmissions in Romulan." Pike calmly ordered. He was testing Jim's theory.  
A male Lieutenant spoke up: "Sir, I'm not sure I can distinguish the Romulan language from Vulcan."  
Wait, if he couldn't distinguish them why did he even get assigned to the bridge?  
Captain Pike suddenly turned to Haileen. "What about you? Do you speak Romulan, Cadet?"  
Why, by accident, yes. "Wellingsworth. That is right, sir."  
"Wellingsworth, relieve the Lieutenant."  
Wait, what?  
"Yes, sir." At least that went without stuttering. The Lieutenant looked rather ashamed, but she paid no attention to him as she put in the earpiece and changed frequencies to scan the area for transmissions.  
"Hannity, hail the USS Truman," Pike ordered in the meanwhile.  
"All the other ships are out of warp, sir, and have arrived at Vulcan, but we seemed to have lost all contact," a female voice replied. Strangely enough, all frequencies were dead silent. Haileen checked and rechecked but still couldn't intercept the slightest noise.  
"Sir, I pick up no Romulan transmission or transmission of any kind in the area," she reported therefor.  
"It's because they're being attacked," Jim added with confidence. Pike threw him a look, and she was almost a 100% sure what he was thinking. It was what everyone probably was thinking; Oh shit.  
"Shields up, red alert."  
A red light went on, and the alarm sounded, increasing everyone's nerve level as they awaited the outcome.  
"Arrival in Vulcan in five seconds... four... three... two..."  
The moment the Enterprise went out of warp it became clear why there hadn't been any transmissions. They had arrived amidst the aftermath of an enormous space battle.  
The entire bridge sprang to life.  
"Emergency evasive!" Pike ordered at the sight before him.  
"Running, sir!"  
Wrecked lumps and bits filled the space around Vulcan. The blood in Selena's veins froze when she recognised the remains of the USS Newton.  
Bridget...  
The vibrating of the ship as it collided with pieces of floating debris pulled her out of her thoughts. Now is not exactly the time to break down, Selena. Get it together.  
"Damage report."  
"Deflector shields are holding," a male officer informed him. The other officers, including Selena, had also started their reports. Haileen, having nothing to report as a communication Cad- no, Lieutenant, and Jim, who wasn't even supposed to be there, watched as the Enterprise came onto a collision course with what was left of the saucer of one of the destroyed ships.  
"Full reverse, come about starboard ninety degrees, drop us underneath."  
Sulu hadn't lied when he told Pike that he was a pilot: he managed to dip the nose of the Enterprise and get it to dodge the obstacle with minor damage to the exterior of the left warp engine nacelle.  
That wasn't what got the bridge's attention, however, but what destroyed saucer revealed.  
'It was reported that the Romulans were in one ship, one massive ship.'  
'That ship which had formidable and advanced weaponry was never seen or heard from again.'  
And yet there it was, like a giant black squid with metal razor tentacles floating in the sea of destruction it had caused. And the Enterprise, just like the USS Kelvin, had stumbled upon it without the slightest notion of who, what, why and how.  
The 'how' was easily answered.  
"Captain, they're locking torpedoes," Commander Spock announced.  
"Avert auxiliary power from port nacelles to forward shields," Pike replied, just before multiple torpedoes slammed into the Enterprise, resulting in a breach around decks five and six.  
"Sulu, status report."  
"Shields at thirty-two per cent," said person replied. "Their weapons are powerful, sir. We can't take another hit like that."  
"Get me Starfleet Command."  
"Captain, the Romulan ship has lowered some kind of high energy pulse device into the Vulcan atmosphere," Commander Spock replied. "Its signal appears to be blocking our communications and transporter abilities."  
Pike decided to take the alternative option. "All power to forward shields. Prepare to fire all weapons."  
Surprisingly, the metal squid decided not to fire any more torpedoes. Haileen realised what the cause was for this when she suddenly received a message.  
"Captain, we're being hailed," she informed Pike, unable to hide the surprise she was experiencing.  
"Hello."  
A middle-aged Romulan man, with tattoos around his face, appeared on the viewscreen.  
His eyebrows, of which the outer parts were pointed upwards the same way as those of Vulcans, in combination with the tattoos that sprouted from the points and went down horizontally gave his face a dark look like that of a Marvel villain, Selena accidentally realised.  
He had spoken casually as if nothing had happened, and it irked Haileen. HOW could he speak like that?! After the destruction of this many Federation ships without any reason, he just actually said 'hello'?!  
Pike spoke up, or more or less demanded: "I'm Captain Christopher Pike. To whom am I speaking?"  
"Hi Christopher, I'm Nero," was the reply, just as casual.  
Captain Pike remained professional, in full realisation that they were outgunned. "You've declared war against the Federation. Withdraw. I'll agree to arrange a conference with Romulan leadership at a neutral location-"  
Nero interrupted him: "I do not speak for the Empire. We stand apart."  
A rebel, then? An escaped convict?  
Nero narrowed his eyes. "As does your Vulcan crewmember, isn't that right, Spock?"  
Commander Spock slowly rose from his seat and walked slightly more up to the front. "Pardon me, I do not believe that you and I are acquainted?"  
He might have looked confused, but Selena could've just imagined that.  
"No, we're not. Not yet."  
Not.. yet?  
Nero continued: "Spock, there's something I would like you to see. Captain Pike, your transporter has been disabled. As you can see by the rest of your armada, you have no choice."  
Nero named his conditions: "You will man a shuttle, come aboard the Narada, for negotiations. That is all."  
The screen turned off, leaving the crew of the Enterprise in confusion.  
Jim was the first to speak up as Pike rose from his seat. "He'll kill you, you know that."  
"Your survival is unlikely," Spock agreed, but it would be likelier to say that he ignored Jim and spoke to the Captain only.  
The action was mutual.  
"Captain, we gain nothing by diplomacy. Going over to that ship is a mistake," Jim assured him.  
This time Spock didn't ignore him, though, for the sake of the Captain. "I, too, agree. You should re-think your strategy."  
"I understand that," Pike stated. "I need officers who have been trained in advanced hand-to-hand combat."  
To the surprise of the crew, Sulu rose his hand shortly. "I have training, sir."  
Pike nodded in agreement. "Come with me." He turned to Jim. "Kirk, you too. You're not supposed to be here anyway. Chekov, you have the conn."  
"Aye aye Captain," the Russian replied as Pike, Sulu and Spock left the bridge, and a woman in yellow dress took Sulu's place. Jim exchanged a look with Haileen – she nodded in encouragement, it was already a big deal that Pike didn't have him thrown in the brig - before he went after them.  
A short while later Spock returned and took the Captain's chair.  
"Doctor Puri, report," he spoke to the communicator.  
The voice that came from the comn surprised Selena and Haileen.  
"It's McCoy. Doctor Puri was on deck six. He's dead."  
"Then you have just inherited his responsibility as Chief Medical Officer," Spock informed him.  
"Yeah, tell me something I don't know," McCoy replied over the comn, clearly irritated.  
The bridge was back to work.  
"Away team is entering ze atmosphere, sir. Twenty thousand meters." Chekov announced, the screen showing three dots and labels entering the atmosphere of Vulcan.  
"Approaching ze platform at fifty-eight hundred meters. "  
"Kirk to Enterprise," suddenly sounded over the comn, and Haileen immediately put him on speaker.  
Seriously?! she thought, So this is the alternative – jumping from space down to a minuscule platform thousands of metres lower?  
"Distance to target, five thousand meters," Jim announced.  
"Forty-six hundred meters from the platform."  
"Forty-two hundred meters to target." That was Sulu.  
"Four thousand meters," Jim reported.  
"Three thousand meters."  
"Three thousand meters." The new voice came from Chief Engineer Olson.  
"Two thousand meters," Jim said.  
"Pull your chute", Sulu ordered.  
On-screen Sulu and Jim visibly slowed down, but Olson remained increasing speed. "Two thousand meters!"  
"C'mon, pull your chute, Olson!" (Jim)  
"Not yet! Fifteen hundred meters!" (Olson, obviously)  
"Open your chute!" (Sulu)  
"Yeah!" Olson really seemed to think of this as a sport.  
Haileen's and Selena's heartbeats pounded in their necks.  
"Olson, pull your chute!" (Jim)  
"One thousand meters!" (Olson)  
Olson now also slowed down, but he was still going too fast as he reached the platform.  
"Olson!"  
"O- Olson is gone, sir," Chekov announced surprised, as the red dot disappeared from the screen.  
The blue dot stopped on the target.  
"Kork has landed, sir."  
Haileen breathed a sigh of relief. A short while later Sulu also had handed safely, and for a moment they heard nothing until Haileen got a reading:  
"The jamming signal is gone. Transport abilities are reestablished," she reported.  
"Transporter control is re-engaged, sir," Chekov reported from the front.  
"Chekov, run gravitational sensor, and I want to know what they are doing on the planet," Spock ordered him.  
"Aye commander- ack, Captain. Sorry, Captain." Chekov's mistake brought a slight smile to the face of more than one person present, some suddenly remembering their first days on a starship. Amidst a serious situation there at least should be something to lighten the spirits.


	7. Difficulties

**A/n: Hehe.. *smiles nervously* You don't remember that claim I made in the last chapter by any chance? You do? *face grows red of embarrassment* Yeahh about that... It was christmas... And then New Years Eve... Let's just say that whenever I promise something it always seems to backfire somehow. So here is a short flashback, a one-shot from Academy life about Selena. So there.**

*** _Flashback***_

"So, what shall we do tonight?" the apparently ever-positive Jim asked. They were sitting in one of the currently abandoned recreation rooms. McCoy raised a brow.  
" _I'm_ going to take a long shower and _hopefully_ sleep a bit."  
"Oh come on, it's the last day before college officially starts, everyone's going to hang out elsewhere tonight!"  
"I'm sure you've already planned something with that girl, huh?" He was referring to the blonde girl Haileen.  
Jim just looked at him with a pleading look in his eyes, but said no word. Leonard acted as if he were invisible, and proceeded to read his book. But even after he had finished the next chapter Jim was still looking at him. Leonard rolled his eyes, and sighed deeply. _Dammit._  
"Okay, fine. You win."  
Jim jumped up, clasping is hands. "Great!", he stated cheerily, "I knew I could count on you. Haileen insisted we'd go to the bar on Bush Street, it's an old place but apparently it's one of the best you'll find in the city. She'd said everyone'll be there around nine, so how about we leave at eight thirty?"

"Leave whereto?", a new voice chimed in. Both men whirled (at least, Jim did - Leonard, still seated on the couch, merely turned his head) on the girl standing in the doorpost. Neither had heard her enter.  
Selena raised an eyebrow at the silence. "What?" Her long, brown hair had within a couple of months grown from just below her shoulders to her waist, her blue eyes scanning the two curiously.

"It's you again." Leonard mumbled, and returned to his book. With those two in the room however he could not concentrate on the words.

"When did you get in?" Jim asked with a slight frown on his face, feeling a tad unnerved by her quiet entrance.  
She shrugged, a smile played around her lips. "Just now. But really, where are you going?"  
Jim already started to explain, but Leonard interrupted him, closing his book and placing in on the couch. "What? No, she isn't coming with us. Look at her, she's just a child!", he added when Jim shot him a non-understanding look.

"Come on Bones-"

"Why can't I go?" Selena asked, frowning.

"It's against the law," Leonard opposed, mimicking her expression.

"What, being in a bar?"

"In this case, yes."

Selena huffed, rolling her eyes. "As if everything everyone does is so legal."

"It's illegal for a reason," he stated, getting more and more fed up with this stubborn child.

"So? That doesn't stop people from drinking Romulan ale or smoking drugs for example," she shot back.

"Drinking at a young age results into serious brain damage." He remained relentless, standing up and crossing his arms.

"Do you really think such theories apply to a person like me?" Selena replied nearly scathingly.

"And how exactly would you be different?"

When she realised her mistake Selena mentally scolded herself.  
"In more ways than you can imagine," she mumbled exasperatedly. Both had lifted their voices, and Jim was looking at the quarrel helplessly.

Leonard decided to take it another way. "And what about your parents?"

Selena's eyes widened. "You. Didn't. Just. Say. That," she spoke slowly and threateningly.

"Don't they have any influence?" he spoke at the same time.

"Stop it," she whispered, but he either ignored or hadn't heard her.

"What do you think they would think of your behaviour? Their 13-year-old daughter, running off to the bars of San Francisco! Surely-"  
Her voice broke as she cut him off: "How would I know?! They've been _dead_ for half my life!"

The room went silent, and its three occupants were staring at each other, two in surprise and one in anger. A tear ran down Selena's cheeks. Stifling a sob she quickly ran away, leaving the two alone. The three of them all thought the same thought: _Shit._

Angrily Selena wiped away the tears that ran down her cheeks uncontrollably. She hated this, why was she crying?! Fortunately everyone had gone off to the city, this being the last day off they had before colleges would start again, so the halls were empty when she ran through them. She shouldn't have reacted that way, there was no way they could've known. She hadn't intended to drink alcohol, and it had been.. childish, to want to go with them _because everyone went._ What wouldn't they think of her now? A crying child. A crying child that had screamed in their faces on top of that. Christopher Pike had been right, it _was_ hard. She should've stayed in Iowa, being an online teacher. _And wither away in loneliness? Sure,_ _a_ part of her mind opposed, but she paid it no heed.

She quickly found her room, and stormed inside. The room itself was relatively small, but it did have a small couch and table, two separate rooms with beds and a private bathroom, which also had turned out to be all right. The walls were all white, just as the couch, its pillows and the beds. Light grey laminate flooring, and white tiles in the bathroom. A window provided a view over the bay, and when she'd go to stand in the corner the Golden Gate Bridge was partly visible in the dark. She didn't have a roommate, and therefore the bedroom on the right had barely been used since the beginning of the year.

She started pacing back and forth, until sadness and anger had consumed all her energy. A replicator provided her with a hot cup of tea and she placed it on the wooden table to cool down. Worn out, she fell flat on her back on the couch. staring at it.

The clock displayed 8:37PM. Everyone had probably left by now.

 _Let's get the facts together,_ she thought. She was in Starfleet Academy. Half a year ago, only one day had passed and her life had already irrevocably been changed. She had been well aware she was the youngest student, to ever have studied here maybe, and yet she'd had already made two friends. She shook her head. And she had just screamed and cried in their faces.

But this all of course was the result of another change. No, it wasn't change. A next step. Because that was the thing in life, in _her_ life. Leaving behind everything you know, moving on. Many would dream of such a life - every time starting all over again, being able to change your current status and known past.

Selena hated it.  
Why had she been left all alone in this world? The _future_ world on top of that!

Sitting up right she took the cup and gripped it tight, ignoring the heat.

All that she wouldn't give to have a normal, stable life. Because the thing is, no matter where you go, what you do or what you say, you can't run from yourself. Your past will always stay with you. Mistakes, moments of luck, sadness, joy.. Regret, things that could have been.. It defines who you are, determines your actions. And the choice is ours: do we learn from our wrongs, or do we deny the truth? Who we are? Ourselves?

Selena knew who she was, _what_ she was. Every night she attempted to forget, to be reminded every morning. There simply was no escape. There was no other option than to keep it a secret, cover up everything and _pretend_. Pretend to be normal.  
Frustration welled up inside her, her knuckles went white as she gripped the glass cup with now tepid tea even tighter.  
Nearly her entire life she had had to pretend. To lie to everyone. When she had been younger this had thrilled her, she had felt like Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, Tony Stark. Now it was more of a burden. _From hero to villain_. There had been exactly three people she had trusted; Shenaya, the Indian woman who had been her nanny, and her parents. Two of them were dead, the third, her father, had disappeared into deep space, and probably died too long ago. _Naya… Mum… Dad… I miss you so much. I need you._

Another sob welled up in her throat, but Selena was ripped from her thoughts by a loud noise and a sharp pain in her right hand. When she looked down she quickly released the remains of the glass cup, the tea splashed on the floor. The strength of her fist had shattered the glass, and the shards had dug deeply in the palm of her hand. Bloodied shards fell down - it was looking rather nasty, blood had started dripping onto the wet floor and was rolling down her fingers. Smithereens still in the flesh glistered in the light of the lamps. _Just great._ Why did something like this happen whenever memories of her past came up? The wound started stinging and burning, but she had no energy left in her body to move. Instead of feeling a slight panic, or at least the urge to do something about it, she was just staring at the mess, trapped in a maze of regret.  
Salty tears mingled with the blood.

When the girl had stormed off Leonard could've slapped himself. Of course she was an orphan. That was probably why she hardly left campus and never told anything about her parents or home.  
He knew he had to do something, but Haileen and Jim had left a while ago so he was on his own. Nevertheless he found himself walking through the halls to her room, thinking about what he'd say. Part of his mind urged him to turn around and stay out of all of this, but who knew what she was going through? In front of the door he hesitated. But entered anyways.

There was a heavy silence in the poorly lit room.  
"How are ya, kid?" he asked carefully.  
"I'm alright." She was sitting on the couch, her back turned to the door while staring at something hidden from his sight. He remained in the door opening awkwardly, and it took a while before she spoke again.  
"I might need some help though."  
Her voice was soft, and she slowly turned towards him. His heart fell at what he saw. Her face was nearly white, and a red towel was wrapped around her hand. Her cheeks were still red from crying, and her dull blue eyes shimmered like crystals in the dim light. Something dripped off the towel, an irony stench reached his nose. He then realized it was blood.  
 _Dammit._  
The doctor in him took over and in two steps he reached her, and squatted in front of her. The floor was a mess, with glass shards, water and blood everywhere. Keeping an eye on her downcast face he gently took her hand and unwrapped the once towel. Two deep cuts crossed the palm of her hand where most of the blood came from, and there were tens of smaller scratches, glass still in them.  
"The glass broke.", she whispered in an apologetic manner.  
He grabbed a clean towel.  
"Here, keep this around. It hurts, but you don't wanna spill on the floors. You think you can walk?" The girl bit on her lip and nodded. When she stood up however she was standing unsteady.  
"Come on," He supported her with one arm. "Let's patch you up."

The infirmary was deserted at this time of day, except for two nurses doing a night shift, but Leonard knew it'd fill up with people who were stupid enough to get themselves an alcohol poisoning or had been involved in a bar fight. Not that he had the right to judge, though.  
"Sit down.", he ordered, and she quietly obeyed by jumping onto the nearest biobed. He rummaged through a med kit and picked out a tricorder and scanner.  
"You still feel dizzy?" The girl was following his actions curiously with her eyes. She was too small, her legs dangled off the side of the bed.  
"Yes."  
He took her injured hand and quickly scanned it.  
"Black spots in front of your eyes?" As expected the tricorder pointed out that except for the visible shards there weren't any other traces of glass. No small splinters had fallen in the wounds, fortunately.  
"Not anymore." She was still speaking in this soft, almost sad manner. His eyes met hers, and for a moment he was looking at an older version of Joanna. The similarities were striking: the same kind, blue eyes, high cheekbones and dark brown hair. But it wasn't just that - perhaps it was the fact that they shared the will to prove themselves. That same determination he had seen when Joanna had been a small child he now found back in the eyes of this eight years older girl in front of him.  
She looked away, and he replaced the tricorder and scanner with a pair of tweezers - the shards were easiest removed in the medieval way.  
"This is going to hurt a bit," he warned her. She nodded, and bit her lip as he pulled out a smaller one first and dropped it in a glass tray.  
"Why - why were you so protective just now?" Leonard looked up in surprise. Selena herself also looked like she hadn't expected to ask something in the first place, but she refused to look up.  
"What do you mean?", he enquired, returning to the shards. For a moment she remained silent, but eventually spoke:  
"Well... I'm not exactly anyone's responsibility, let alone yours.. And if I get in trouble by my actions should I not also turn up for the consequences? So… why?" She left the end of the question open, but he was aware of what she tried to ask. _Why don't you ever let me go along? Why are you so keen to keep me out of danger?_ _  
_For a 13-year-old she was quite observant.  
"I don't want you to regret the decisions you make. You shouldn't get involved in such things yet." She looked up at him silently, knowing there was more to it. _The truth wouldn't hurt… would it?_  
"Fine.", he muttered, "You remind me very much of Joanna."  
"Your daughter?"  
"Yeah."  
She watched his hands as he was half way with her hand, flinching ever so slightly a couple of times, but careful not to move it. He had already pulled out the second last when she spoke again.  
"You miss her." It was a statement, not a question.  
"Hm." He didn't quite answer it therefore, but the knowing look in her eyes told him she knew what he meant to say.  
He said no more, and she didn't ask.

The comfortable silence was broken when - just as he dropped the last bloodied shard in the tray - a man and a woman entered the infirmary, to be helped by one of the nurses. The man's face had several scratches and upcoming bruises. His head hung slightly forward, and he was being supported by the woman.  
"Looks like he's been hit on the head one time too often," Selena mumbled as she watched them.  
"He's only the first one - that's why I didn't want you to go." He shot her a strict glance. "The strangest things happen at the last free days," he warned her, and grabbed a dermal regenerator from a drawer. When he turned it on he noticed Selena eyeing it on her guard.  
"You have seen one of these before, haven't you?", he asked, frowning. That'd be quite an achievement, passing childhood with an attitude like hers without a scratch.  
She shook her head. "Not that I know."  
"Well, it repairs the cells. It's used often to heal minor skin injuries like burns - or in your case, cuts. I'd better get used to it if I were you."  
She hesitantly extended her hand again - she had held it close in an unconscious motion.  
Leonard frowned. The deeper cuts had grown smaller by little less than a tenth of an inch, something that naturally would've needed at least two weeks. At a closer inspection some of the blood in the smaller scratches had started clotting. _Speeded up healing process?_  
"Is something wrong?" She nervously looked from her hand to his face and back again.  
He shook his head, puzzled. "Nothing." He took her hand again and let the thing do its work, which took less than a minute.  
"You're good to go." With amazement she turned, bent and stretched her hand simultaneously.  
"Thank you." She hesitantly jumped off the bed, and he motioned to the door.  
"Off you go, kid. Try to catch some sleep - you need it." He ordered kindly. She looked like she was going to say something – then decided against it and nodded, with a hint of a smile on her lips.


	8. Vulcan

**A/n: Hey y'all, guess who's back from the dead? Now that I've started a study I've got so much more time, and finally I got to finish this short chapter, now I can continue with longer chapters which I've started already but not finished yet, so hold on and I'll do my best to update soonn!**

The moment the Captain announced the evacuations, Haileen immediately informed the two jumpers down on the planet's surface. "Enterprise to Kirk and Sulu." With her fingers she covered the earpiece so as to hear the response over the buzzing on the bridge.  
"Enterprise, we hear you," Sulu replied from the other side.  
"The Captain has announced a planetwide evacuation. You'll be beamed out of here as soon as the transporter room is ready."  
"Copy that, Enterprise," Sulu confirmed, just as the Captain left the bridge and handed the conn to Chekov. The latter didn't seem very happy about it in the current situation, though he might also have been surprised.  
A short silence followed in which Haileen awaited the confirmation of the Transporter room. Officially she was tracking any Romulan transmissions in Vulcan space, but there were none at all. Only those from the Enterprise or distress calls Vulcan.  
She saw Jim as a friend, nothing more, she told herself. He had his job to do, and she hers. And as a friend, she wouldn't rest until he and Sulu were safe back on the Enterprise. Right?

Now that the jamming signal was gone and the drill stopped, everyone had a bit of time to work hard on preparations for the planet's evacuation and reparations of the damage Nero's ship had done to the Enterprise. The fact that they now all depended on Captain Pike and Nero's ability to keep his promises was far from reassuring, and they were all working hard to turn that around.  
"Kirk to Enterprise. They just launched something at the planet, through the hole they just drilled," sounded Jim's voice suddenly through the intercom. "Do you copy Enterprise?"  
Selena was worried. She had a busy job assigning repair teams to the damaged decks, but had, besides that, taken a short look at what the scanners made up of whatever damage that drill of Nero's had done to the planet. As an engineer, she did not have sufficient experience or knowledge to support her speculations, but Pavel had taught her enough about planetary sciences that, at the sight of the scanner reports, she knew there was something off about the planet itself. And Pavel seemed to have come to the same conclusion.  
"Keptin," he addressed Commander-now-acting-Captain Spock, "gravitational sensors are way off ze scale. Eef my calculations are correct, they're creating a singularity..." His eyes went round, and he turned around in his chair to face Spock. "that will... consume ze planet."  
The bridge fell silent.  
There was much wrong with the planet, they knew that. But this...  
How...  
"They're creating a black hole at the centre of Vulcan?" acting-Captain Spock asked in a soft voice, not entirely indifferent to the prospect.  
Pavel nodded sombrely. "Yes, sir."  
Selena's heart skipped a beat. There were still millions of Vulcans on the surface of the planet. If they didn't get off-planet immediately… Depending on which type of singularity it was they would be either pulled into a black hole along with the debris of the planet or under eerie similar circumstances transported back or forth in time, in the case of a space-time singularity.  
But how could anything the size of that object Nero sent down hold enough power to create something as big as this? Was he in the possession of a mass-destruction weapon? Selena dreaded the answer.  
Because either way, it meant certain death.  
Please, no. Please. She didn't believe it. It couldn't be true.  
"How long does the planet have?"  
Pavel shrugged slightly, still processing what was happening. "Minutes, sir. Minutes."  
It took everyone a moment to take it all in, but a fraction of a second later acting-Captain Spock sprang to action by standing up from the Captain's chair and giving orders: "Alert Vulcan command centre to signal a planetwide evacuation on all channels, all frequencies. Maintain standard orbit."  
Reports from Engineering streamed in – the emergency repairs were well under way, and the breeches had been secured with emergency force fields. Decks 6, 12, 13 and 19 had been severely damaged, and there were radiation leaks on some of the lower decks. She tried to do her job, but it sure was difficult not to be distracted by the distant shouting voices.  
"Kirk to Enterprise. Beam us outta here!" Jim's voice suddenly sounded through the comm. The tone at which he shouted it was alarming – meaning something was going very wrong.  
Someone from the transporter room replied: "Standby, locking on your signal."  
However, Nero made his move before then. When she turned her head towards the main screen, she witnessed the drilling device onto which Jim and Sulu were standing being retracted. Jim and Sulu moved upward along with it.  
"I can't lock onto you. Don't move. Don't move!"  
Sulu must've fallen off, since the yellow dot he was indicated by suddenly changed direction. Jim's followed suit not long after. Alarms began blaring.  
Selena couldn't help herself: to the current screen in front of her she added the scanner readings concerning the away-team. The computer wasn't fast enough to compensate for the erratic motion of the two men falling.  
"Kirk to Enterprise! We're falling without a chute! Beam us up!"  
"I'm trying. I can't lock on your signal, you're moving too fast."  
I have a job to do, Selena, she told herself. She had to focus on assisting in getting this ship working. That was her job. But her best friend was plunging to his death, how on earth could she focus on her business if she should be saving her friend?!  
What if…  
Her heart raced thanks to the adrenaline that sped through her veins. With a quick pace, she left her station, leaving a man in charge (bad first day indeed, she would most definitely hear about this), and called out to the one person she knew who could help her to make this work.  
"Pavel, back me up!"  
It took said person a second to comprehend what she was attempting to do, but then realisation lighted up in his eyes.  
"Aye!" He responded, rising from his seat, and addressed a fellow officer. "Take the conn!"  
The both of them then hurried off towards the transporter room, followed by the eyes of the bridge crew and anyone they ran past. While running and dodging people Selena explained her plan.  
"With the gravitational pull as an increasing constant like the current velocity and resistance, as well as the pattern in which they're falling, that means that we could make a precise prediction as to where they will be at what time-  
"-then we lock onto ze figure we'll have to create in order to manually lock onto Kirk and Sulu," the blond Russian finished her sentence before they entered the transporter room, where Pavel sat down and took control with Selena standing behind him.  
"Give me radio control, I can lock on!" Pavel commanded in a hurry.  
Selena gripped the backrest of the chair tight with both hands. It was now or never.

From the back of the bridge, a determined voice piped up: "Pavel, back me up!" When Haileen turned her head she saw the young Russian jump up from his seat with a hasty expression.  
"Take the conn!" he ordered the second Helm officer before running off to the transporter room, followed by Selena, just before a female officer next to Haileen drew a worrisome conclusion from the most recent readings.  
"The black hole's expanding. We won't reach minimum safe distance if we don't leave immediately."  
Haileen's heart pounded in her throat.  
"Beam us out! Enterprise, where are you?"  
Alternately Jim's anxious voice and Chekov's sounded over the comm.  
"Hold on, hold on!"  
"Do it now! Now, now, now!"  
"Don't move! Hold on! Computing gravitational pull and..."  
Haileen, along with a few other people, held her breath as the tension was rising. There were only a few seconds left before they would hit the surface – if Chekov couldn't do it, Jim and Sulu were falling towards certain death. She couldn't lose them... Especially Jim. Please... The two dots next to each other came closer and closer to the rocky planet's surface.  
"Gotcha!"  
A sigh of relief escaped her lips upon hearing this. The two dots had disappeared only meters above the rocks, meaning they were safe.  
"Oh! Yah-my-oo!" Chekov cheered in Russian, and with a smile, Haileen sighed again before returning to helping the other communications officers.

Jim, in the meanwhile, was less amused. Falling on the hard floor of the transporter room with a gravitational pull bigger than on earth, after having accelerated for hundreds of metres, was rather painful, even if it was slowed by the transporters. Not to add that the fear of dying added to the exhaustion.  
Both him and Sulu were panting, with the smell of hot air and sweat beginning to dissipate. But man, Jim's limbs were sore.  
"Thanks." Sulu managed to say in a clear voice.  
"No problem," Jim replied while getting up on hands and knees. Shit man, that was no soft landing.  
As they were trying to catch their breath and get up, 'Captain' Spock suddenly entered.  
"Clear the pad. I'm beaming to the surface."  
"The surface of what?" Jim responded, but he and Sulu scrambled off the transporter pad anyway. He then realised what that arrogant Vulcan was going to do. The latter had lowered himself to a squatting position with a phaser ready in one hand.  
"What, are you going down there?" Jim objected. As annoying as he was, he needed to see that this was a suicide mission. "Are you nuts? Spock, you can't do that!"  
But as expected the Vulcan ignored him.  
"Energize."  
The transporter chief did as she was told and sent Spock down to the surface of a collapsing planet.  
"Spock!"  
The lights that belonged to transporting now covered the Vulcan's body, then he dissipated into the thin air.  
"Stand-by to transport from the surface on the coordinates 43.." The Transporter Chief continued her work undisturbed. Still breathing fast, Jim and Sulu moved somewhat rigid to the other side of the window shield behind which the controls were. Oh right, that Russian kid was the one they'd heard, he noticed, and Selena was there as well. He couldn't yet wrap his head around the fact that he'd been rescued by a 17-year-old.  
"Thanks." He commented anyway. The Russian kid – Chekov? – looked up from the panels and nodded with a corner of his lips turned upward.  
"You're welcome," he simply replied.  
Selena sent him a big smile, she would've hugged him if it hadn't been inappropriate at this moment, and if she hadn't been busy with the transporters.  
"Coordinates confirmed. Stand-by for transport."

The ship's reparations were going well. However, there were several parts which couldn't be repaired on such a short notice. Selena's focus was not on the planet's worsening instability, especially now that Captain Spock was down on the surface.  
Suddenly a voice sounded over the comn.  
"Spock to Enterprise. Get us out now!"  
The computer locked on a group of six on the planet's collapsing surface, and it took extra calculations from Pavel to not mix them with the falling rocks and debris.  
"Locking on you. Don't move. Stay right where you are," Pavel told Captain Spock, frantically working. "Transport in five... Four... three... two..."  
All was going well until suddenly the woman fell down - the stone ground must have broken.  
All around alarms were blaring.  
"I'm losing her. I'm losing her, I'm losing her!"  
Panicked, Pavel tried his best to lock on the falling woman much the same way as they had done with Jim - only they had less time now. Selena, Jim and Sulu anxiously watched Pavel and the other transporter personnel working on picking up the woman's signal all the while transporting the five others, including Captain Spock, safely on board.  
Wait.  
An idea hit her, and Selena bent over the screen to add her own calculations, determined to get the woman safe on board. They had lost already so many, she couldn't lose more.  
"Wait for it..." In panic herself, Selena began to say her thoughts out loud. "24 times 6.3... and then add that..."  
The other five had begun to arrive already, but Pavel and Selena were too caught up in their task to notice.  
Selena bit her lip, frantically typing. "Aaaand... There!" Last minute the computer was finally locked on her signal, and only seconds after the other five arrived, a woman fell down on the floor of the transporter pad.  
A relieved laugh escaped Selena's and Pavel's lips, seeing the six reunited. They had done it. They had actually done it. The woman was helped up by Captain Spock, who... hugged her? Though it was odd, seeing their Captain, as well as one of their former teachers, show relief, at this moment no one judged him, as they were all more or less processing what had happened.  
It took a moment for Selena and Pavel as well to realise how close they were actually standing to each other, and quickly Selena moved a bit away, blushing. It was the adrenaline, she told herself. Pavel's cheeks were also flustered, probably because of the rush and quick work.

"Cease evacuation procedure, we need to get out of here, quickly!"  
Immediately after the safe arrival of Captain Spock and the Vulcan High Council, the Enterprise was forced to move out of orbit to reach a safe distance from the increasing pull of the black hole. This also meant that the lives of billions of Vulcans were definitely lost.  
Haileen wanted to do something, anything, to prevent the planet from having the same fate as Valeritas. She couldn't stand to watch the same thing happen all over again, even though it had been four years. At that time she had fought herself through, through the death of her parents, through the death of her friends, through the destruction of her home. It had taken countless meetings with a psychiatrist to finally be able to overcome all that and focus on what she had now: a family that loved her, peculiar but wonderful friends, job between the stars she had admired for so long.  
And the same thing that once happened to her now happened to the thousands of Vulcans who were off-planet.  
The evacuations had cost too much time to execute, and all they could do was watch as the red planet was devoured by the expanding black hole.  
Haileen was frozen in place, one hand still over her earpiece, eyed wide. She had been too caught up in the events in the transporter room to realise the doom that was on the planet down below. Her fingers started to tremble as the voices around her became a blur.  
 _Loud rumbling and screaming._  
As the Enterprise flew away quickly, the planet's core became visible.  
 _Cracks spread across the surface, red magma flowing out like blood._  
This couldn't be happening. Not again. They needed more time. There were still billions of people down there, they couldn't just leave them there...  
 _Continents rose and sank into the sea of fire._  
Under the strain the planet imploded in mere seconds, leaving nothing but empty space and radiation behind.  
 _Mom._  
 _Dad._  
 _Amber._

When everyone came to from the initial shock, life on board went back to normal. Wounds were healed, repairs were made, a course was laid in.  
Well, almost back to normal.  
Despite the fact that they had made it out safely, their Captain was still captured by the criminal Nero. Billions of lives had just been taken. One of the main pillars of the Federation had been obliterated.  
Sure, everyone was doing their jobs. But the air was heavy with despair and grief.  
Back on the Academy, the past three years, a situation like this had been unthinkable. Dreams and ideals were strongest under the new ones, who still romanticised the life on board of a starship. Stories of heroes, legends, strongly embedded in the minds of the students.  
That was probably the reason why a test such as the Kobayashi Maru existed in the first place. But not even that test could have prepared them for this: there is, after all, a big difference between a simulation and reality. Not all is fun and games in life.  
Selena knew that. She knew the harsh reality of this world. But she would still get going. Resolve replaced regret, determination substituted by grief. Bridget's death wouldn't be in vain, nor would those of the inhabitants of Vulcan.  
That was one thing the Enterprise crew all agreed on: that bastard Nero would pay for what he had done.

Haileen was more than resolved. When she could finally compose herself after the terrible flashbacks, she clenched her fists and wiped away the moist from her eyes. No, she wasn't going to give in. She was going to do her job as she was supposed to, and if the time was there she was going to punch Nero's lights out. And no one could stop her from doing that.


End file.
